Psychological Abuse: 6 Tips to Counter Being Improperly Labeled with a Psychiatric Diagnosis

As a psychologist, domestic abuse consultant and one who has known domestic violence personally, I’m frequently approached by battered women for “psychological truth.” They are eager to know if the names and labels given to them by their abusive partners, or by the court agents acting on their abuser’s behalf, hold any validity.

Many domestic violence survivors intuitively know they are falsely labeled, but remain at an impasse as to how they can refute such allegations. That is, how they can counter the slander characteristic of classic, crazy making legal-psychiatric abuse.

And all to often they do nothing, which is actually the very worst thing to do. When you do nothing, ultimately you can end up with the label and all of the consequences of being defined as such.

Here are some points you want to consider and steps that you can take to help yourself search for the truth.

1) Go to your local library or directly to the Internet and Google the diagnosis given to you by those not licensed to do so. There is a tremendous amount of information for layman consumers on healthcare websites. Understand what is being said/alleged about you to the extent that you can as an unprofessional reader.

2) Collect all the public information you find on the defining characteristics, prevalence, onset, etc and begin your personal reflection and research. This is the part where you MUST be completely open and honest with yourself.

3) Remember you have as much of an ability to PLAY psychologist as the non-credentialed, non-mental healthcare providers labeling you. So you have the “ability” to ascertain whether or not a diagnosis is appropriate as much as they do. But, you MUST see a professional for an accurate assessment because…

4) Quite honestly, neither you nor they have the credentials or license to provide psychiatric diagnoses much less the background, education or expertise to do so. This is as important for you to know as are the facts about the actual psychiatric label.

5) Now if you have received a diagnosis from a credentialed psychologist or psychiatrist, then get a second opinion from another psychologist or psychiatrist of your choosing that is completely independent of the network and circle in which the original diagnosing professional works.

6) You have a right to secure a second opinion regardless of what a court-appointed psychologist or psychiatrist purports. Depending on the circumstances, you may request a professional consult between the doctors after you obtain the second evaluation.

If you have been improperly labeled or are at risk for being so, you will want to do all you can to be proactive on your behalf.