After spending 12 hours with the actress and analyzing case data, the doctor arrived at her conclusion.

On Thursday in Virginia, the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard entered its ninth day, with Dr. Shannon Curry testifying for Team Depp.

Curry, a clinical and forensic psychologist, said she was approached by Depp’s legal team to “review the case materials and provide my opinions regarding anything I noticed that was consistent or even not consistent with the psychological science that exists today on intimate partner violence in Mr. Depp and Ms. Heard’s relationship,” according to Curry.

Intimate relationship violence, she explained, occurs when one partner abuses the other physically or psychologically. Curry’s involvement in the case “changed,” according to Curry, and she was requested to offer a mental evaluation of Heard, but not Depp. Before meeting with Heard two consecutive times in December 2021, she read all case documents, Heard’s medical and mental health records, audio and video recordings, and witness statements in preparation for the evaluation.

“We spent 12 hours directly with each other during the evaluation. Ms. Heard’s assessments revealed two diagnoses: Borderline Personality Disorder and Histrionic Personality Disorder “Curry stated.

When questioned how she got to such conclusions, she continued, “There was information that supported that from many sources.” “I conducted testing, including — one of the key tests that I utilized, she achieved scores that were consistent with those diagnoses, and there was proof of those diagnoses in her records and self-report [or things Heard told Curry’specifically’],” Heard said.

“In her self-report, she identified a few features that were consistent with these personality disorders. The first was my own self-reported behavioral observations of her “she went on. “An overly dramatic presentation is one of the signature traits of Histrionic Personality Disorder… it tends to be extremely flowery, it employs a lot of descriptive words, and it might go on for a long time but has no substance, leaving you wondering what was just said. This happened several times.”

During her time with Heard, Curry also commented on what she noticed as “rapid fluctuations” in emotion.

“She’d be one way and then be very lively or very sad, and when people with this personality disorder express emotions, there’s a sense of shallowness to it,” she explained. “People watching them may think they’re nearly acting… part of it is the person’s ability to switch emotions quickly, as well as the lack of substance. ‘I feel exposed,’ says Ms. Heard only very seldom.”

Curry went on to describe the tests she performed on Heard to arrive at her diagnosis, before revealing more of what she said she saw during their conversations.

“One of the most important things I learned from her was that she had a really smart manner of minimizing any personal issues. A number of traits were found to be consistent with the final diagnoses “she went on. “Some of the primary characteristics included externalization and blame, a tendency to have a lot of inner hostility that is attempted to be controlled, a tendency to be very self-righteous but also to deny that self-righteousness, and a tendency to judge others critically against these high moral value standards but also to deny doing so. Essentially, to say that one is nonjudgmental and tolerant while nevertheless being enraged.”

Curry said that people with similar diagnoses “tend to be passive-aggressive, self-indulgent, self-centered, they could use manipulation tactics to try to get their needs met, very needy of attention, acceptance, and approval,” and that they “tend to be passive-aggressive, self-indulgent, self-centered, they could use manipulation tactics to try to get their needs met.” She went on to say, “They have a tendency to put individuals close to them at a remove. They’re actually quite socially sophisticated. They have the ability to share some of their flaws, but only those that are common knowledge and that everyone can relate to. They may appear to be fair and impartial on the surface, but they may be extremely critical of others.”

Curry claimed Heard’s medical records suggested she had a “temper” and had “cut her arm in the past,” which she stated was a “normal, reactive type thing somebody with this disease can do,” according to Curry. She was also “shocked” by deposition testimony from Heard’s “former friend,” Raquel Pennington, who claimed Amber “hit her in the face, sort of out of the blue,” according to her. “One of the indications of Borderline Personality Disorder,” Curry noted, “where if a friend or loved one isn’t meeting your wants at that moment… they feel their needs should be satisfied when they want them met, and if they aren’t, that anger, that sense of hurt prompts them to react.”

When it comes to Histrionic Personality Disorder, she says “a lot of the key features” you’ll notice with someone diagnosed with it “are going to be drama and shallowness” — where they have “extreme discomfort with not being the center of attention, extreme efforts to be the center of attention,” and “when they feel they’re not the center of attention, you’ll see some strange things; making up stories to try to get attention, taking on a victim or princess role, see what they’re doing.”

People with this illness are “extremely, very engaged in looks,” she continued, “but more significantly, they use their looks to acquire the attention and respect that they crave.”

Heard presented herself as “problem-free” and “did so in a very clever, non-obvious” manner, according to Curry. She also came to the conclusion that Heard did not have PTSD and that she “grossly exaggerated PTSD symptoms when asked about them.”

Before the court adjourned for lunch, Depp’s lawyers finished their questioning. Curry first admitted she is not board qualified in clinical and forensic psychology, but is a licensed clinical psychologist, under cross-examination by Heard’s counsel.

Curry said she had never come to the conclusion that Heard “exhibits patterns of behavior that suggest her allegations of abuse against Mr. Depp are unfounded.”

Pennington’s evidence was also brought up by Heard’s lawyer, who pointed out that it really said “she hit Ms. Heard and in reaction, Ms. Heard either shoved or slapped her,” which he called a “very big distinction.” Curry said she arrived at the conclusion that the relationship had “some form of aggression both ways,” but her assessment only applied to Heard. Curry’s judgment differed from that of others who had previously treated Amber, including a psychiatrist who believed Depp was the aggressor and Heard was the victim of domestic abuse.

In an op-ed in the Washington Post in 2018, Heard claimed she was a survivor of domestic abuse, prompting Depp to demand $50 million in damages. Despite the fact that she didn’t specifically mention Depp in the post, his lawyers argue that it was implied to be about him and had a negative impact on his career. She sued Depp for $100 million in retaliation.

The actor already lost a case in the United Kingdom over the identical article published in The Sun. The actress denied ever being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder throughout the trial, which took place in 2020.