What a psychiatrist appointed by Parliament’s privileges committee said about Raeesah Khan
Dr Cheok said that Ms Raeesah did not suffer any significant psychiatric disorder that would have impaired her ability to speak truthfully in Parliament or at the committee’s hearings. She was of sound mind, and was mentally fit and present to make the statements that she did.
Dr Cheok said that Ms Raeesah had not told her lie in Parliament on Aug 3 impulsively or as a result of dissociation or any other psychiatric disorder.
It was possible that such untruths could be told as a result of bad judgement, rather than because of any mental illness, Dr Cheok said.
Dr Cheok told the committee that dissociation is a symptom, not a medical diagnosis. It refers to the loss of the integrative function of the human mind and may be experienced by normal persons in different situations.
The psychiatrist did not assess Ms Raeesah as suffering from dissociation.
Dr Cheok explained to the committee that those who suffer from dissociative identity disorder, commonly known as multiple identity disorder, would typically have gone through repeated childhood trauma. They would also switch between different identities or speak in different voices.
Dr Cheok told the committee that Ms Raeesah, who had said that she was a sexual assault victim, did not fit this description.
Dr Cheok did not deny that Ms Raeesah had some symptoms of being psychologically traumatised, but he was of the view that the symptoms did not reach the threshold of a psychiatric disorder.