June 14, 2012

• Schizable(Violence)

  For this Schizable post I am going to cover the myth that people with schizophrenia are violent. I will write my own views on this subject in a second, but first I am going to quote, word for word, from the book “Schizophrenia for Dummies”. This is directly from Chapter 16: Ten Myths about Schizophrenia You Can Forget. Page 311:

  “Myth #5: All People with Schizophrenia Are Violent

  Unfortunately, the media often sensationalizes stories about people with mental illness who are involved in acts of violence because it makes for catchy headlines, feeding into people’s fears and misunderstandings about the disorder.

  Although people with schizophrenia can be unpredictable, they’re more often victims of violent crime than perpetrators of it. This is because they often appear to be frightened and confused, making them look like easy prey for criminals.

  When individuals with schizophrenia do commit crimes, they’re usually petty misdemeanors that are an outgrowth of their poverty and despair. For example, a homeless person with schizophrenia might urinate on someone’s lawn because he has no access to a public restroom or may be charged with petty theft for stealing food when he has no money and is hungry.

  When serious crimes do occur that involve people with schizophrenia, it’s because their illness is untreated or is aggravated by drug or alcohol abuse. Acutely psychotic patients may have outbursts of aggression: Untreated psychosis – as well as the presence of substance abuse – increases the chances of an individual becoming violent or aggressive in response to voices they hear, feelings of being persecuted or followed by enemies, or feeling of loss of control over impulses. Psychotropic medications reduce the risk of violence as does substance-abuse treatment.”

  That is the word for word debunking provided by Jerome Levine, MD. and Irene S. Levine, PhD.

  And now for my own perspective on this issue:

  Now I will take a more personal turn to the question of whether or not people with Schizophrenia are violent. I will talk about my own experience. The answer to the question of whether I am, or not, violent due to my illness is both yes and no.

  When I look back at my personal journal entries from early to mid 2007 I can see when my illness began to set it. A new coworker showed up in April of that year and I believed from the start that they were there to replace me, or at the very least keep tabs on me until a replacement could be found. They were involved in the military and I figured that if they were there to spy on me they must be CIA.

  So I never confronted this person about my beliefs, but always made sure I was on guard against any professional snafus that could give them something to report. I suppose I was an excellent worker during April to August of 2007 because of this hyper-vigilance against slip-ups.

  Nevertheless, I believed the CIA, and two other organizations only my father and doctors know about, was after me. This feeling of being persued by enemies or persecuted is common among many people diagnosed as having paranoid schizophrenia.

  Anyways, so most of the time I just went about my business. But in August of 2007 I was at the height of my untreated illness. Looking back, I do not believe that if my coworker had stood up one day and said, “Dan, I’m from the CIA, come with me please,” during those months that I would have reacted violently. So at this point the answer to the main question would be No.

  However, in the final week of August before I called my Mother to have her take me to a hospital the answer may very well have been Yes. This is because almost every single unique belief my mind came up with, my mind believed to be true. This included beliefs about the CIA, the military in general, God, and other people and organizations like the ones I won’t mention from above. The last day before my first hospitalization I believed that I was going to be killed by the CIA. If, and only IF, in those last days while I held onto the belief that my life was in danger someone(not even the coworker) had come up to me and said, “Dan, I’m from the CIA, come with me please,” I might, no would, have defended myself to the death. So there is a Yes to this question as well.

  So that’s my story related to this topic. If you have any questions feel free to message me if you don’t want to put it in the comments section. Just know that the more you comment, the more those reading your comments, questions, and my answers will come to understand this illness.

  Click Here to see all past entries in the ‘Schizable’ series.

  -Shadowrunner81(Dan)

  • 8:21 pm
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