Psychiatrist Who Testified In Depp v. Heard Trial Says He’s Suffered 'Emotional Concussion' From Trial Backlash

The doctor who testified that Johnny Depp showed "narcissistic" characteristics claims the backlash has caused him an "emotional concussion."

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor was able to prove that the 2018 article written by his ex-wife, Amber Heard, was defamatory and was awarded $15 million (£12 million) by the jury, which was later capped at $10.35 million by Judge Penny Azcarate in one of the most talked-about court cases in recent memory.

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Heard was also awarded two million dollars (£1.6 million) in damages via a counterclaim in a separate verdict.

On the 23rd of May, Heard's legal team called Dr. David Spiegel, a psychiatrist, and physician, to testify in her defense.

Elaine Bredehoft, Heard's lawyer, asked Spiegel to comment on the psychological profile of persons who have experienced and perpetrated IPV, and whether or whether it was compatible with Depp's behavior.

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He said: “In my opinion – based on my review of the evidence, based on my clinical experience, based on my publishing experience, based on my teaching experience – that Mr. Depp has behaviors that are consistent with both someone who has a substance use disorder as well as behaviors of someone who is a perpetrator of intimate partner violence." 

However, in an op-ed for Newsweek headlined "I Testified in the Heard vs. Depp Trial," the psychiatrist has described the terrible backlash he has gotten from Johnny Depp supporters since testifying. The Reaction Has Been Horrible."

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He wrote: "I drove to my hotel and around an hour later, at about 4 pm, my wife called me and said, 'Listen, I don't want you to look at what's being said.”

"I asked her how horrific it was, and she told me it was pretty bad.”

"I'm not a social media expert, far from it, so I didn't expect the whole horrific post-trial backflow.”

"It's been a little stunning for me.”

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"The volume of it, from the personal attacks on who I am and what I present like, to what I look like and say, was a little hurtful.”

"I deal with people for a living, so I tried to understand where people were coming from.”

"It's what a psychiatrist does.”

"But the comments below the YouTube videos of me have been vile."

Spiegel added: "I'm an adult, it's not the first time I've been criticized, but never like that. On that Monday and Tuesday, I had what I'd describe as an emotional concussion.”

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"It wasn't physical, I didn't get hit on the head, it was emotional because the feedback afterward left me a little on the numb and dazed side. I slept a lot on Monday and Tuesday."

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He went on to say: "I would have liked Mr. Depp to get ahead of this and to have said, 'Listen, I understand you are upset, but there are ways to express how to be upset'.”

"The fact that he hasn't probably says potential volumes about him. Ms. Heard hasn't come out and said anything either, but my opinion is that she is the most vulnerable person in this situation."