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Amber Heard, the ex-wife of Johnny Depp, suffers from two mental disorders: borderline personality disorder (BPD) and histrionic personality disorder (HPD). At least, this is the assessment of psychologist Dr. Shannon Curry, which shared it during a recent court hearing – the next installment of the battle between the ex-spouses. Dr. Curry’s opinion is not a diagnosis, but it makes it easier to understand the events of the ex-couple’s relationship – quarrels, accusations, addictions, alleged violence. What are BPD and HPD? We explain.
- Clinical psychologist Dr. Shannon Curry was called as a witness by Johnny Depp’s lawyers
- “The results of Ms Heard’s evaluation confirmed two problems: borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder,” said Dr. Curry
- Shannon Curry’s assessment is not an official diagnosis, and Amber Heard’s attorneys are questioning her opinion
- In this article, we explain what happens to people struggling with borderline and histrionic personality disorder
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
Pictured above, from left to right: Amber Heard and clinical psychologist Dr. Shannon Curry
Psychologist Amber Heard on the psyche: There are two problems
The marriage of Amber Heard and Johnny Depp lasted only one and a half years. In 2016, Heard filed for divorce and a temporary restraining order from the actor. Depp denied ever having hit his wife. On the contrary, he himself accused her of beating and throwing objects at him, including paint cans and vodka bottles. The actor also brought a defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife. And despite the fact that in 2020 he lost the case (according to the court, there was no evidence for this act), he did not give up the fight. On April 11, 2022, the court battle between the ex-spouses resumed.
On April 26, testimony was given by clinical psychologist Dr. Shannon Curry, appointed by Depp’s lawyers. The expert explained that in October 2021, 36-year-old Amber Heard was asked to “conduct a psychological assessment”. To this end, she looked through “all documents of the case”: medical records of the actress, audio and video recordings, photos and “testimonies of many witnesses”. In December 2021, she also met Amber Heard several times (in total, these sessions took about 12 hours).
«The results of Ms Heard’s evaluation confirmed two problems: Borderline Personality Disorder, BPD — ed.) and histrionic personality disorder (Histrionic Personality Disorder, HPD – ed.) » Dr. Curry said. The psychologist also believes that Amber Heard does not suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, which, according to the actress, was to develop as a result of her relationship with Depp.
The rest of the text is below the video.
Dr. Curry noted that BPD and HPD are similar, it can be said that both disorders are characterized by emotional instability, a strong fear of abandonment and disregard for consequences. It is estimated that 10-15 percent. people with borderline also have histrionic personality disorder. Both of these conditions overlap, and one may develop from the other. We emphasize that Dr. Curry’s assessment is not an official diagnosis, and Amber Heard’s attorneys are questioning her opinion. However, it’s worth knowing what borderline and histrionic personality disorders really are and what happens to the person who struggles with them.
Personality is a typical and repeatable set of features and behavior for us. It is also a way of thinking and perceiving reality.
We can talk about disorders in this area when feeling the world and the way of reacting to it is a source of difficulties in relations with others, but also hinders functioning in various spheres of life.
Borderline Disorder – What Happens to the Person, Diagnosis
Borderline Disorder is also known as an emotionally unstable or borderline personality. Its characteristic feature is instability in various areas of life. This applies to feelings, thinking, relationships, and behavior. Therefore, extreme emotions and impulsive behavior appear in borderline disorders. Underlying emotional lability is a persistent fear of abandonment. “It causes that the partner’s neutral behavior is often interpreted as a signal of rejection, which in turn leads to bouts of strong anger, feelings of inner emptiness and impulsive, including self-destructive actions,” reads an article published a few years ago in the monthly “Zwierciadło”.
In the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, two main diagnostic criteria are taken into account: the ICD-10 classification and the DSM-IV classification. In the first case, at least three of the following characteristics must be met: disturbance in perception of proper self-image; lack of specific goals and preferences, this also applies to the sexual sphere; intensely engaging in relationships while creating unstable relationships that lead to emotional crises; avoiding rejection by abandoning loved ones and burning bridges behind you; threats to commit suicide or attempted suicide; constant feeling of inner emptiness.
In the DSM-IV classification, borderline personality disorder occurs when a patient maintains at least five of the nine criteria for an extended period of time:
- relentless efforts to help avoid real, but often imaginary rejection
- creating intense and unstable relationships with other people. These relationships arise and end at extreme points, from the idealization of the partner to its complete devaluation
- identity disorders and incorrect self-image and self-image
- high impulsivity in at least two spheres that may be destructive for the patient. The most common are: spending a lot of money, taking drugs, having casual sex, compulsive eating or unsafe driving behavior.
- threats of suicide, attempted suicide, or self-harm
- emotional instability, irritability and anxiety lasting about a few hours
- long-lasting feeling of inner emptiness
- intense anger, inadequate to the situation. Lack of control over outbursts of anger and showing frequent bad mood
- fleeting paranoid thoughts or severe symptoms of personality disintegration
Histrionic personality disorder – what happens to a person, diagnosis
The essence of this disorder is already defined by its name. It comes from the Latin word “histrio” which means “actor”. A person with a histrionic personality behaves theatrically, like an actor playing a role that is his own life. A person so much and often talks about himself, his problems. Importantly, he does it in an exaggerated way, coloring and thus consciously seeking the attention of others. If she doesn’t, she feels marginalized. In addition to emotional volatility and instability, we are also dealing with over-expression of emotions.
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To this must be added the constant need for acceptance. As a result, HPD individuals are sometimes viewed as superficial or insincere. Meanwhile, they “are so afraid of rejection that they merge with what they think others expect from them”, we read in one of the articles of the magazine “Zwierciadło”.
It is assumed that we are talking about a histrionic personality if a person exhibits at least five of the following behaviors (after the magazine “Zwierciadło”):
- staying out of the spotlight makes the person uncomfortable
- Ease of inadequate seductive behavior or provocation
- expression of superficial or changing emotions
- using your appearance to attract attention
- speaking in a subjective way, without details
- tendency to dramatize, theatricality and over-expressing emotions
- being easily influenced by others
- seeing relationships as closer than they really are
- the belief that letting go means failure and humiliation