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.
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