Only one of Mount Cashel John Does has PTSD: doctor

CANADA
The Telegram

Barb Sweet
Published on June 09, 2016

Updated story:

Three of four John Does involved in the Mount Cashel civil trial in Newfoundland Supreme Court don’t suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), says an American psychiatrist testifying for the Catholic Church.

Dr. Robert Toborowsky said the fourth John Doe does have PTSD “that can be traced — along with the associated angst — reasonably to various experiences he had prior to, during and after the years he spent in Mount Cashel.”

Those experiences include losing his mother — the man’s father, a Second World War double-amputee, couldn’t take care of his sons — as well as later life events such as the death of a beloved grandchild, financial struggles, various medical problems — including cancer — and the litigation itself, Toborowsky said.

There were other mental diagnoses that Toborowsky ruled out in his opinions on the John Does’ cases. And in the case of a man who says his marriage and career were ruined, Toborowsky concluded there was an alcoholism disorder and recurrent depression, but didn’t link those problems directly to Mount Cashel.

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