Psychiatrist staged ‘bizarre’ rescue bid in recovered memory case
Disturbing new allegations about the treatment of a troubled young woman emerge in our hit podcast Shadow of Doubt, now available wherever you get your podcasts. Episode 3 is live for subscribers now.
A psychiatrist treating a young woman who was recovering memories of childhood abuse appeared to become over-involved in the case and breached hospital procedures by rushing to a remote suicide spot to rescue her, according to colleagues.
A nurse and psychiatrist who worked at the hospital where the young woman was being treated have told the Shadow Of Doubt podcast that they became concerned that the psychiatrist’s professional boundaries with her patient had broken down.
The nurse recalled that she arrived at the hospital one day and was told that the psychiatrist had driven to a remote suicide spot to rescue the young woman, who had called the hospital threatening to jump.
“I said, ‘What? … Quick, call the ambulance’,” the nurse recalled.
“ … I let the unit manager know what was going on, because I thought it was really quite bizarre that (the psychiatrist) had taken it upon herself to drive out to where this girl was going – allegedly, I guess to try to save her,” the nurse said.
The nurse’s account was supported by a senior psychiatrist who was working at the hospital at the time.
“That’s when I and the co-ordinator … of community mental health said to each other ‘This feels inappropriate’,” the psychiatrist recalls.
“I mean, it doesn’t happen, that a treating psychiatrist jumps into the car to go and see a patient out at (the location).”
At the time of the incident, the young woman had been undergoing counselling in the psychiatric hospital for almost two years, and had recovered memories of extreme sadistic abuse by her parents extending over 13 years.
The treating psychiatrist later told the NSW District Court that the young woman had blocked out the memories of abuse because of a psychiatric condition known as dissociative identity disorder. The parents are serving lengthy jail terms after being convicted in the NSW District Court of 86 counts of abuse.
They are seeking a review of their convictions, arguing that their daughter’s allegations were based on false memories recovered in counselling.
The Shadow Of Doubt podcast has previously revealed that staff at the hospital became concerned early in the young woman’s treatment that she was administered excessive doses of medication and that her counselling was poorly co-ordinated.
The identity of the family at the centre of the case is suppressed, and The Australian has chosen not to name the hospital or its staff. The psychiatrist in the case did not respond when contacted online.
*The images used with this podcast investigation are for illustrative purposes only and bear no resemblance to the real people in this story, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
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