Thursday, January 14, 2010

FBI -- General Counsel -- Dirty Work Afoot

November 18, 1996
3801 Connecticut Avenue, NW #136
Washington, DC 20008-4530

Howard Shapiro, Esq.
FBI General Counsel
Headquarters
Washington, DC 20535

RE: Psychotic Impairment - Homicide/Violence Risk - D.C. Corporation Counsel Affirmation - Social Security Disability Claim xxx xx xxxx -- Results of Psychological Testing

Dear Mr. Shapiro:

The enclosed materials, pertinent to the above-referenced issues, are forwarded for the information of the Bureau.

1. Results of Psychological Evaluation performed in May 1994 by the George Washington University Medical Center Department of Psychiatry ("GW"), together with billing statement indicating that the diagnosis Delusional (Paranoid) Disorder (297.10) was assigned by William Fabian, Ph.D.;

2. Results of Limited Psychological Evaluation performed by GW on March 11, 1996 (Ramin Mojtabai, M.D.);

3. Letter (plus attachments) to Dimitrios Georgopoulos, M.D., dated April 19, 1996, requesting a copy of test reports and test raw data. Dr. Georgopoulos subsequently informed me that GW does not retain the raw data of psychological testing. The attached article (Tarter, R.E., et al. "Clinical and Perceptual Characteristics of Paranoids and Paranoid Schizophrenics") indicates that paranoids (297.10) and paranoid schizophrenics (295.30) have distinct MMPI profiles, which do not appear to match my MMPI profile;

4. Technical article pertinent to GW's assertion that I exhibited a high degree of defensiveness and possible mendacity on the testing in order to deceptively conceal the nature and severity of my psychopathology. See Ganellen, R.J. "Attempting to Conceal Psychological Disturbance: MMPI Defensive Response Sets and the Rorschach." Journal of Personality Assessment, 63(3): 423-437 (1994). The author asserts that a guarded, defensive response set is manifested on the Rorschach by (1) fewer than average responses, (2) a constricted response style, and (3) an attempt to appear conventional.

It is difficult to reconcile these criteria of defensiveness/mendacity with the GW test evaluator's express assertions, or admissions, that I was "enthusiastic and very self-disclosive" (p. 3), had a perceived need to "[give] as many responses as possible per card" on the Rorschach (p. 4), made attempts to impress with a "stellar performance" on the Rorschach (p. 4), with a marked tendency on the Wechsler test "to respond in an intentionally overly elaborate way in order to show off [my] verbal sophistication and complex thought processes" (p. 4) (thereby suggesting the unusual expansiveness of my test responses generally), and--significantly--I made no attempt to conceal a "disturbed" thinking style on the Rorschach (p. 5);

5. Letter (plus attachments) dated November 13, 1995 to the U.S. Department of Justice regarding peculiarities in GW's psychological testing and diagnoses. Includes copy of results of IQ testing performed at ages 11.5 and 12.5 by the Philadelphia public schools; and

6. Excerpt of technical article that was peer-reviewed by Akin Gump's expert (Gertrude R. Ticho, M.D.) stating that there are specific and objective criteria that can be applied to Rorschach test results to assess a subject's reality testing potential, and that these criteria can be used to determine whether a subject possesses higher than normal reality testing potential (as opposed to a reality-warping paranoid suspiciousness). See Ducey, C. "The Life History and Creative Psychopathology of the Shaman: Ethnopsychoanalytic Perspectives." In The Psychoanalytic Study of Society. Gertrude R. Ticho, M.D., contributing editor, volume VII at 173-230, 176 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1976).

The GW test evaluator does not state that she assessed my Rorschach responses for reality-testing potential according to the objective criteria referred to in the technical article peer-reviewed by Gertrude R. Ticho, M.D.

Sincerely,

Gary Freedman
________________________________________

November 13, 1995
3801 Connecticut Ave., NW
#136
Washington, DC 20008-4530

Jo Ann Harris
Assistant Attorney General
U.S. Dept. Justice
Washington, DC 20530-0002

RE: Freedman v. DC Dept. Human Rights Social Security Disability Claim xxx-xx-xxxx

Dear Ms. Harris:

Enclosed for the general information of the U.S. Department of Justice are three additional documents that relate to my mental illness, which, according to the Government of the District of Columbia and the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, renders me not suitable for employment and potentially violent.

1. The most recent letter to my psychiatrist at the George Washington University Medical Center (GW), dated November 13, 1995.

2. Excerpt from a psychiatric journal stating that bi-polar disorder, if not treated aggressively, tends to worsen over time. I was diagnosed as bi-polar by GW as per the initial assessment chart, dated September 24, 1992. GW now implicitly represents that my bi-polar disorder has undergone spontaneous remission. I am not currently on medication of any kind. See "Case Histories: Bipolar Disorder." Primary Psychiatry 2(6): 22-25 (June 1995).

3. Excerpt from a psychiatric journal providing anecdotal evidence that persons suffering from severe mental disorders tend to experience a depression in IQ score. See Davidson, L. and Strauss, J.S. "Beyond the Biopsychosocial Model: Integrating Disorder, Health, and Recovery." Psychiatry 58(1): 44-55 (February 1995). David Reiss, M.D., Editor, George Washington University Medical Center.

But see Letter to Federal Bureau of Investigation, dated April 20, 1995, detailing results of IQ testing I took in May 1994, which yielded the highest IQ scores I have ever attained. GW implicitly represents that the more severe my illness becomes the more intelligent I get.

Sincerely,

Gary Freedman
_________________________

TO: Yu-Ling Han
FROM: Gary Freedman
DATE: May 4, 1994
RE: IQ Test Scores

The following are the results of IQ testing performed in city-wide testing by the Philadelphia public schools.

1. Age 11.5(6th grade) IQ score 125

Score breakdown not provided

2. Age 12.5 (7th grade) IQ score 122*

Score breakdown

Maps - mental age 20
Verbal ability - mental age 19
Graphs - mental age 18
Reading comprehension - mental age 17
Arithmetic fund. - mental age 15
Arithmetic prob. - mental age 15
(illegible) - mental age 15

*note that I had a false recollection on May 3, 1994 of this score as being 118

1 comment:

My Daily Struggles said...

The letter to FBI General Counsel Shapiro prompted a reply stating that if this is an employment matter I need to direct my concerns to the EEOC.