What leads one person to violence but not another? How can we understand who is at risk for becoming violent without increasing the stigma associated with mental illness? Especially when that stigma may account for a large part of the association between mental illness and danger of violence... A 2011 review of data on people who had suffered a first episode of psychosis found that over 65% were nonviolent. Psychosis can be a sign of schizophrenia, though it is also associated with severe depression, amphetamine or marijuana misuse, and personality disorders (borderline originally meant at the border between neurosis and psychosis). Further, of those who did become violent, fewer than 1% had committed violence severe enough to result in hospitalization or permanent injury. Studies have shown that medical treatment does improve outcomes in people with schizophrenia — indeed, appropriate medical treatment in the West has been shown to essentially eliminate patients’ risk of violence — but it’s clear that social support and the cultural environment clearly matter, not only when it comes to violence perpetrated by the mentally ill but also to violent crime in general. In other words, the connections we have to one another — our social capital, our ability to seek and receive support from others — is the most important weapon we have against violence. These connections are put at risk when economic inequality rises. Studies show that social cohesion and trust drop when disparities between the rich and poor rise. healthland.time/2012/07/31/mass-murder-and-mental-illness-the-interplay-of-stigma-culture-and-disease/
Posted on: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 23:42:16 +0000
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