Mental Illness And Violence – Dispelling The Myths
A
person with a mental illness is more likely to have a
violent act committed on them, that to commit a violent act
themselves, says the Mental Health Commission.
In its
recently released fact sheets, the Commission says that
mental illness is not a highly significant contributor to
violence in society and the risk of a crime being committed
by someone with a mental disorder is very small.
“We can’t
ignore that there is a very small link between mental
illness and violence,” says Commission Chair Jan Dowland.
“However, other factors such as drugs, alcohol, age and
gender appear to be stronger contributing factors.”
Ms
Dowland says that closing large-scale psychiatric
institutions and caring for mentally ill people in the
community has had no effect on homicide rates or rates of
violent offending by those with a mental illness.
“We
want to dispel the myth that mentally ill people are
violent. It’s not true, and to continue to perpetuate the
myth is very stigmatising for people with a mental illness.
To say that society should be protected from them is very
wrong,” says Ms Dowland.
“One in five people in New
Zealand has a mental illness at some point in their lives,
so most of us will be affected in some way by mental
illness. Mental illness is common, and most people recover
quickly and fully,” says Ms
Dowland.
If you're using Scoop for work, your organisation needs to pay a small license fee with Scoop Pro. We think that's fair, because your organisation is benefiting from using our news resources. In return, we'll also give your team access to pro news tools and keep Scoop free for personal use, because public access to news is important!
Winston Peters is routinely described as the kingmaker who decides whether the centre right or the centre-left has a turn at running this country. He also plays a less heralded, but equally important role as the scapegoat who can be blamed for killing taxes that his senior partners never much wanted in the first place. Neither Ardern nor Robertson for example, really wanted a capital gains tax, for fear of Labour copping the “tax and spend“ label they ended up being saddled with anyway. Usefully though, they could tell the party faithful it was wicked old Winston who killed the CGT... More
The National Party claims the new coalition government will be stable, effective, and will deliver for all Kiwis. "Despite the challenging economic environment, New Zealanders can look forward to a better future because of the changes the new Government will make ... We know that, with the right leadership, the right policies, and the right direction, together New Zealanders can make this an even better country," says Christopher Luxon... More
“The new Government’s plan to expand oil and gas exploration is as dangerous as it is unscientific. Whatever you think about the new government, there is simply no mandate to trash the climate. We need to come together to stop them,” says James Shaw... More
MFAT's decision to remove te reo from correspondence before new Ministers are sworn in risks undermining the important progress the public sector has made in honouring te Tiriti. "We are very disappointed in what is a backward decision - it simply seems to be a Ministry bowing to the racist rhetoric we heard on the election campaign trail," says Marcia Puru... More