Email | Print

The vast majority of people with psychiatric disorders, including severe illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar (manic-depression) disorder, are neither violent or criminal. A study published in the May 1998 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, found that individuals discharged from psychiatric hospitals who were not also substance abusers were no more violent than members of the communities in which they went to live. Substance abuse, however, significantly raised the risk of violence for both those with and without mental illnesses. In addition, the study showed that when aggressive acts did occur, they were seldom directed toward random strangers, contrary to the public's fears and media images of deranged serial killers.

Despite the facts, public stereotypes of people with mental illnesses as violent, dangerous and unpredictable persist, and these stereotypes have a wide range of unfavorable consequences for those working to recover from mental illnesses. The image of someone with mental illness as dangerous and unpredictable is central to the stigma and discrimination that undermines the recovery of people with psychiatric disorders. Neighbors and co-workers, for example, may avoid those labeled with psychiatric diagnoses, adding rejection and isolation to the burden of a mental illness. Adequate housing may be difficult to find -- and homelessness increased -- as communities resist the presence of group homes for fear that community members will be imperiled. Productive work, so important to self-esteem may be similarly prevented.

Individuals who receive effective treatment can and have become productive and valued members of communities. In a recent nationwide survey of mental health consumers, our research team heard from many people with mental illnesses who were making such contributions. They were doctors, nurses and social workers who had struggled successfully to move ahead in their lives despite devastating illnesses. They were engineers, schoolteachers and computer analysts who persevered despite the obstacles posed by their disorders and the stigma accompanying it. They were parents, spouses and volunteers who were determined to make contributions to their families and communities. They, like most people with psychiatric disorders, had harmed no one despite their frustrating experiences with rejection, discouragement and discrimination from the society that they were contributing to. These are the people we should think of -- not fictional Hollywood creations -- when we think of people with mental illnesses.