"...psychological and clinical evaluations of the parents are necessary."
The ruling regarding the future care of 15 year-old teen Justina Pelletier has been posted online.
Reading through the ruling one cannot help but to feel angry and frustrated that hearsay seems to be the basis upon which Judge Joseph Johnson arrived at his decision. He seems to have been convinced by apparent experts that Justina "suffers from a persistent and severe Somatic Symptom Disorder." I've yet to see any scientific evidence that such a disorder exists. If someone could point me to brain images of this disorder then I'd be eternally grateful.
Judge Johnson has accepted the word of mental health, he has taken it at face value. It's akin to a prosecutor in a criminal trial claiming to have the murder weapon...then, once asked by the Judge to produce it, tells the Judge that he doesn't have it in his possession but he saw it...ergo it must exist.
Furthermore, it now appears that Justina's parents have come under the scrutiny of the psychiatric 'guesswork' profession.
"...psychological and clinical evaluations of the parents are necessary."
Is fighting for your child now deemed as a mental illness?
The one thing this case has highlighted is how mental health likes to widen the net. Lou and Linda Pelletier have, for the past 14 months been fighting to regain custody of their daughter, and rightly so. If they hadn't have been fighting for her then I would probably suggest that they had some sort of callous disorder. In truth, they have done what any parent, under the same circumstances, would have done. To try and label their 'natural response' as a mental disorder shows exactly how the field of mental health works.
Disagree with da man in da white coat at your peril. Show defiance against a mental health diagnosis and you too will be labelled with a disorder... or at the very least be psychologically and clinically evaluated!
Here's the ruling... Faxed by Judge Joseph Johnson. [Click on images to enlarge]
Please use the hashtag #FreeJustina when tweeting this post.
Bob Fiddaman
Back Stories:
Boston Children’s Hospital - A Prison For Children
Justina Pelletier: A Pawn in a Psychiatric Game of Chess
Marriott Hotels and the Case of Justina Pelletier
Car Trouble (Justina Pelletier)
Justina Pelletier - Condition Deteriorates
Judge Joseph Johnson delivers blow to the family of Justina Pelletier
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