• Corpus ID: 26493403

The litigant-patient: mental health consequences of civil litigation.

@article{Strasburger1999TheLM,
  title={The litigant-patient: mental health consequences of civil litigation.},
  author={Larry H. Strasburger},
  journal={The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law},
  year={1999},
  volume={27 2},
  pages={
          203-11
        }
}
  • L. Strasburger
  • Published 1 June 1999
  • Psychology, Political Science
  • The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
Civil litigation often has profound psychological consequences for plaintiffs and defendants alike. For those individuals who are involved in ongoing psychotherapy, or those who enter psychotherapy during litigation, the stress of litigation often adds to whatever issues produced the lawsuit. This article reviews the effects of that stress, the mechanisms through which it arises, and its manifestations in psychotherapy and offers suggestions to increase psychotherapist awareness of the… 
View on PubMed
talkingback2restrainingorders.files.wordpress.com
35 Citations
Background Citations
14

35 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Exploring the emotional burdens and impact of medical negligence litigation on the plaintiff and medical practitioner: insights from Ireland
Abstract Arguments for reform of the dynamic of medical negligence litigation in Ireland frequently centre on temporal and financial concerns. However, as the field of law and psychology has…
A Proposal for the Improvement of Mental Health Service Delivery to Barrators, Contemnors and the Courts That Have to Deal with Them
The temporary deprivation of liberty may be necessary to achieve order in the courts. However, imprisonment can have serious impacts on people with mental health problems, and for that reason it…
Therapeutic Jurisprudence, Restorative Justice, and Tort Litigation
What we are doing in our legal system is not working. Clients are unhappy with their lawyers, the system, and the results. . .Nonlegal dispute resolution mechanisms in society by and large have…
Living Through Litigation: Malpractice Stress Syndrome
Stress and coping among litigants in the civil litigation process in Ghana
ABSTRACT Few studies have examined the challenges litigants face in the civil litigation process in Africa and Ghana. The study sought to investigate the effect of type of litigant on stress, and…
Sexual Harassment Litigation: a Road to Re-victimization or Recovery?
Various aspects of the judicial process have been hypothesized as damaging to sexual harassment plaintiffs, though limited research has been conducted that actually examines this hypothesis. We…
Medical accidents: A Socratic resolution?
TLDR
It is argued that the various processes involved in response and redress are outmoded and there is a lack of a clear overview, in particular in terms of promoting better clinical management and less psychological impact on the victim.
Forty-Five Years of Civil Litigation Against Canadian Psychiatrists: An Empirical Pilot Study
TLDR
The cases that actually went to trial suggest that documentation and obtaining second opinions are protective against claims of negligence, and incorporation of these practices should allay concerns about litigation against psychiatrists.
A guide to the forensic assessment of race-based traumatic stress reactions.
  • R. Carter, J. Forsyth
  • Psychology
    The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
  • 2009
TLDR
The analysis of a case study is used to illustrate and extend previous work on the evaluation of racial discrimination by providing a guide to the forensic assessment of the psychiatric and emotional impact of race-based encounters--a guide that can be used both in preparing expert reports and in developing treatment approaches.
The Experience of Litigation after TBI. I: Barriers to Recovery
Prior studies have frequently noted elevated symptom endorsement among traumatic brain injury (TBI) litigants compared to nonlitigants with TBI, with little examination of potential…
...
1
2
3
4
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 12 REFERENCES
Perils of being a plaintiff: impressions of a forensic psychiatrist.
  • S. Halleck
  • Psychology
    Clinical orthopaedics and related research
  • 1997
TLDR
Examples are presented of plaintiffs in personal injury cases who experienced adverse reactions to the process of litigation, and often the patient's condition is worse even after a case is settled.
Is money a cure? Follow-up of litigants in England.
TLDR
Some of the litigants improved after they received compensation, but this seemed to be related to issues besides the money, e.g., feelings about their impairment, family support, the loss of a relationship, personality characteristics, and ability to return to work.
Physicians' self-reports of reactions to malpractice litigation.
TLDR
A survey was devised as a first step in assessing physicians' perceptions of the impact of medical malpractice litigation on their professional practice and personal lives, and two clusters of self-reported symptoms in reaction to the litigation emerged.
Sued and nonsued physicians' self-reported reactions to malpractice litigation.
TLDR
Sued physicians reported significantly more symptoms than nonsued physicians, and were more likely to stop seeing certain types of patients, think of retiring early, and discourage their children from entering medicine.
"Crudely, without any finesse": the defendant hears his psychiatric evaluation.
  • L. Strasburger
  • Psychology
    The Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
  • 1987
TLDR
Ethical considerations and strategies for minimizing harm to an individual who hears a description of his psychodynamics in the highly charged, adversarial context of a courtroom are discussed.
Malpractice Prevention through the Sharing of Uncertainty
TLDR
Patients and families who experience tragic disappointments in their expectations of medicine attempt to assuage their grief, helplessness, and despair by suing — that is, blaming — the physician.
Irreconcilable conflict between therapeutic and forensic roles.
TLDR
Through the presentation of 10 principles that underlie why combining these roles is conflicting and problematical, the authors stress the importance of avoiding such conflicts, avoiding the threat to the efficacy of therapy, and avoiding thethreat to the accuracy of judicial determinations.
On wearing two hats: role conflict in serving as both psychotherapist and expert witness.
TLDR
The clinical, legal, and ethical problems that typically occur when a psychotherapist serves as both a treating clinician and forensic evaluator (or expert witness) in the same case are explored.
The Psychiatrist in Court: A Survival Guide
Potential Costs and Benefits of Sexual Harassment Litigation
...
1
2
...