Psychology Today | 06.11.2026 17:04
The first time I learned about the concept of an “identified patient,” it immediately resonated with me. So many of my clients have had the experience of being the “problem” in their family. They were scapegoated, blamed, and gaslit for struggling with their mental health. Often a highly sensitive or neurodivergent child (or both), they felt the family’s turbulence deeply, unable to pretend everything was fine and ignore all the chaos.
