the distroying of files...yes it happens some places have a rule where 7 -10 years after no longer being their patient the files are destroyed. this is to protect the patients confidentiality. agencies sometimes change hands/ sold and courts can subpoena records. think of it this way you havent seen a therapist for 20 years and you end up in a car accident where your mentality comes into question. the court orders your health records and discovers years ago you had mental illnesses. that record ends up biting you in the behind. but say the agency you received your mental health care from has destroyed your files after you havent been their patient for 7 years. years later you have a problem that record with DID listed on your files cant come back and bite you in the behind.

some agencies put this safety measure in place back in the 1980's when laws changed allowing courts to require crisis centers, doctors and mental health agencies to comply with the courts and hand over their files and testify against their own clients.

imagine the therapist you have now going to court and testifying against youin 10-20 years for what ever you may be accused of in the future, and having to divulge all your deep dark secrets to everyone in the court room. its not fair but its the law that treatment providers have to co operate with law enforcement and court system. thats why they destroy the files. so they dont have to hand over your files to the courts and such years and decades after you have stopped seeing that therapist.