Dear Doctors, If you see a patient in your clinic who has been brought along by their partner, who is strongly suggesting to you that their partner is mentally ill and needs medication or a diagnosis, consider the following: 🚩 Lots of abusive partners insist on taking their victim to the doctor to have them diagnosed as having mental health issues 🚩Abusive partners benefit from their victim being diagnosed as mentally ill instead of traumatised from the abuse, and will often use the medication to threaten or gaslight their victim 🚩 Abusive partners will often hold the MH diagnosis over the victim; and either convince the victim that they are going mad, or that no one will believe them 🚩 Pathologisation of a victim of abuse on their medical records will change their life, and mean they are likely to be disbelieved when they come forward - or CPS/police will drop the case due to third party materials (your notes) which frame the victim as mentally ill instead of a victim of abuse I train medical professionals to look out for this kind of abuse tactic, common not only in domestic abuse, but also in child abuse. Abusive parents are known to use this strategy, too - meaning the behavioural changes of their child are seen as disorders instead of trauma. Thank you for listening.