Johnny Depp Trial: 2 Psychologists Have Different Amber Heard Diagnoses

A psychologist testified that Amber Heard suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder due to alleged physical and sexual abuse at the hands of ex-husband Johnny Depp — one week after a doctor hired by the actor's legal team claimed Heard had no signs of PTSD.

Dr. Dawn Hughes told jurors Tuesday that she had diagnosed Heard with PTSD following a forensic psychological evaluation held over the course of 29 hours, during which the doctor assessed the actress' case files and met with her four times in person and twice via Zoom. She also interviewed some of Heard's treating physicians and the star's late mom, Paige.

Following the evaluation, the clinical and forensic psychologist testified that Heard's PTSD, which has to have a cause, was the result of the alleged "intimate partner violence by Mr. Depp," People reported.

"That's what was pushing the symptoms," the doctor said, adding that four tests backed up the diagnosis.

Hughes also testified that Heard showed no signs of feigning or malingering her mental health.

Hughes was the first witness called by Heard's legal team, as they began their defense in a defamation trial in Fairfax, Virginia. They are seeking to counter the image presented by Depp's lawyers, who claimed that Heard was the abuser in the former couple's relationship.

Hughes was called to rebut the testimony of Dr. Shannon Curry, who testified a week ago that Heard showed no signs of PTSD and instead diagnosed the actress with borderline and histrionic personality disorders.

The forensic psychologist — who was hired by Depp's legal team to assess Heard and was present in the courtroom during Hughes' Tuesday testimony — testified that she based her assessments in part on two psychological tests administered on Heard and two sessions that lasted a cumulative 12 hours, Law & Crime reported.

Both diagnoses appear back-to-back among "Cluster B Personality Disorders" listed in the American Psychiatric Association’s most recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: the DSM-5.

Curry testified that Heard "grossly exaggerated" her supposed PTSD symptoms and stated that the actress "did not have" the condition.

Curry explained that people with borderline personality disorder fear abandonment.

"All of it is like pistons of an engine, kind of firing off and igniting one another," Curry testified. "But when somebody is afraid of being abandoned, by their partner or by anybody else in their environment and they have this disorder, they’ll make desperate attacks to prevent that from happening. And those desperate attempts could be physical aggression, it could be threatening, it could be harming themselves, but these are behaviors that are very extreme and very concerning to the people around them."

Curry added that over time, the person with borderline personality disorder would "exaggerate" and "explode" when their partner needs space because they would perceive it as a slight against them or an intention to harm them even if that isn't the case.

"They'll react in this heightened manner that is just exhausting for their partners," she added.

Depp alleged that Heard fabricated allegations of domestic abuse when it became clear that he wanted to divorce her.

Los Angeles police officer Melissa Saenz also testified Tuesday about visiting the former couple's Los Angeles penthouse in May 2016, just days before Heard filed for divorce and showed up at a courthouse to seek a restraining order with a large mark on her face that she claims came from a fight with Depp that night, The Guardian reported.

In a recorded deposition, the officer said that she could see that Heard had been crying but saw no evidence of an injury. Depp's lawyers said Saenz's testimony is evidence that Heard faked her injury to damage Depp's reputation.

Depp, 58, is suing Heard, 36, for defamation over a 2018 op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post about surviving domestic violence, though she never mentioned Depp by name in the article.

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor argued that the piece was referring to him and their past relationship and that the allegedly fabricated abuse allegations ruined his reputation and career.