Excerpt: A. Kaye:

Neil S. Kaye, Graham Glancy, and Ryan C.W. Hall will answer questions from members related to practical issues in the real world of Forensic Psychiatry. Please send questions to [email protected]. 

This information is advisory only, for educational purposes. The authors claim no legal expertise and should not be held responsible for any action taken in response to this educational advice. Readers should always consult their attorneys for legal advice.

 Q. I evaluated a woman who was involved in a very severe motor vehicle accident and diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder. Now, I am being asked to evaluate the woman’s daughter, who was a passenger in the vehicle and was also badly injured. She is represented by a different attorney than the mother. The attorneys are okay with me seeing both of them for an evaluation. Do you have any advice as to how I should proceed? 

The DSM-5 “A” criterion for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) includes repeated or extreme indirect exposure to aversive details of the event(s), usually in the course of professional duties (e.g., first responders, collecting body parts; professionals repeatedly exposed to details of child abuse). Full-blown PTSD in forensic experts, including psychiatric experts, is, unfortunately, common. (5, 6)

I was involved in a high-profile child abuse case with over 100 victims and hundreds of hours of videos of abuse occurring on children as young as one year old. I decided that, after just a few hours of watching the defendant’s behavior, I had seen enough to reach an opinion, and that to watch every second was unnecessary and unhealthy. I can also say that is the last time I will do such a case.

Ask the Expert 10 12 24 -Managing Multiple Victim Cases