Dr. Aafia diagnosed with chronic depression
NEW YORK: Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, who is under U.S. detention for allegedly trying to kill American soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan, has been diagnosed with chronic depression, according to court documents released today.
Federal Judge Richard Berman ordered an examination of Dr. Siddiqui last week after she refused to appear in court to answer charges because of her objection to being strip-searched before coming to the court, a requirement for all defendants held in custody.
Dr. Siddiqui, a U.S.-educated neuroscientist who disappeared mysteriously in Pakistan in 2003, was examined and first diagnosed with psychosis on Tuesday, Sept. 2 by Bureau of Prisons psychologist Dr. Diane McLean, according to a letter on Thursday from the warden of Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center to Judge Berman.
She is reported to be in “depressed mood, anxiety, and ruminative thoughts concerning her son’s welfare, poor sleep, and moderate appetite.” The letter also describes a hallucination: “She also reported seeing her daughter in her cell, and was unable to apply appropriate reality testing to this phenomenon.”
Dr. Siddiqui politely declined to receive psychotropic drugs, the letter said.
Source: The News
Date:9/13/2008
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