Should We Be Afraid of the Mentally Ill?


In 1973-2006, there has been an increase in violence for people who do have schizophrenia and a bipolar disorder. People who have schizophrenia with a substance abuse disorder are more likely to commit a crime.

There are proofs of mental illness shootings, but that does not indicate all of the mentally ill are dangerous. It depends what mental illnesses these people have and what traumas they may have gone through. Most cases of the shootings are diagnosed with schizophrenia. 

Schizophrenia is when a person changes the way they feel, act, and think. The symptoms are hallucinations, delusions, trouble concentrating, and confusion.

People with schizophrenia can not tell what is real or what is not real because of the hallucinations that occur, i.e. the voices in their head. The delusions, i.e. some may believe that they are someone else. Some people may have trouble talking and/or thinking because they get distracted easily.

People who committed a crime will most likely do it again, regardless if the person is mental or not. CATIE investigators stated,"...patients with schizophrenia who took antipsychotics as prescribed were less likely to be violent than those who did not."

There are facts shown and proven that most shootings are lead by mental illness. That should not refer to stay away from the mentally ill. Not all mental illnesses are the same and may not have the same conditions as the other, but that should not convey to push them away.

They are people as well, they should not be shunned for their conditions because not all of the conditions are dangerous. Sure, the mental illnesses like: schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, multiple personality disorder and other mental illnesses can be dangerous if not treated well.

No wonder people are afraid. What's more, stigmatizing mental illness in such a way -- making it something dangerous, something to fear -- will continue to isolate those suffering and prevent them from getting the help they need.

Fear increases towards people who are mentally ill to this day because the topic is considered too personal that people are not willing to talk about what conditions they may have. It is scary for people who do have a mental illness because the unknown of knowing of what they are capable of.

 The CATIE Schizophrenia Trial is part of the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) Project.  The CATIE investigators test for long term effects and if antipsychotic medications are helping the people who have schizophrenia.

Comments

  1. Julie Quinn TACApril 7, 2018 at 12:10 PM

    For paragraph 1, where's your source of that data? That's a lot of possibly powerful content, but you need to credential that source so that readers can determine whether they should trust that data. In paragraph 2, are you saying that most shootings are caused by those with schizophrenia. Which cases? In this paragraph you do link to an academic article. I think it'd be really helpful to carry over (through quote or paraphrase) some of that data to put into perspective. Because this seems unintentionally inflammatory otherwise. The article did also state that "Nestor theorizes that serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia actually reduce the risk of violence over time, as the illnesses are in many cases marked by social isolation and withdrawal." So how can both statements be true? Keep exploring this!

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  2. Stephanie PhillipsApril 7, 2018 at 8:39 PM

    A good point was made when you said that people who are mentally ill should not be shunned or ignored because not all of them are considered dangerous. They are humans and they deserved to be treated as such. One thing I didn’t know was that most cases of people who are mass shooters are diagnosed with schizophrenia. Usually I would’ve thought that it would’ve been Bipolar disorder, anxiety, or even depression. As said in the first paragraph, I also believe that people who have schizophrenia and worsen their condition with substance abuse are more likely to commit a crime, but is that a proven fact or opinion?

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownApril 8, 2018 at 10:37 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. UnknownApril 24, 2018 at 11:33 AM

    In your first paragraph you mention those with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia that have struggled with substance abuse are more likely to commit crimes. Where did you get this information and try to obtain information that's more recent in paragraph 1, anywhere from 2013 - 2018 will definitely help prove the point you are trying to make. In your last paragraph you say that
    "Fear increases towards people who are mentally ill to this day ..." where is the proof for this statement. I can't speak for everyone but i don't fear the mentally ill more because of the few that committed crimes.

    ReplyDelete

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