§ 1016 [Patient-Tendered Mental Condition Exception]

If you bring up your own mental or emotional state as part of a legal case, you can't also claim privacy over related conversations with your therapist or doctor. Normally, what you tell a mental health professional stays private. But if your mental or emotional condition becomes an issue in the case, that privacy protection goes away for anything connected to that issue.

This applies in a few situations. It applies if you personally raise the issue, like when you sue someone and claim emotional distress or psychological harm. It also applies if someone else in the case is claiming rights through you, such as an heir or someone suing on your behalf. It applies if someone is claiming benefits through a contract you signed, like a life insurance policy that depends on your mental state. And it applies if someone sues over your injury or death and your mental condition matters to that claim.

The basic idea is fairness. If you use your mental or emotional condition as evidence to support your case, the other side needs access to relevant information about that condition too. You can't use your mental state as a sword to win your case while also using privilege as a shield to keep the other side from checking the facts.