Mental Illness & Violence

[BarbTherese]

An attempt to set the record straight (in a well trafficked forum) with the truth of matters backed up by personal experience as well as links to sound research:

I suffer bipolar disorder and for 20 years was in the revolving door of psychiatric facilities (hospitals or wards).  That was all over 10 years ago now.  Since then, while I still suffer bipolar, I have never been even close to needing a psychiatric facility.  Now and then bipolar type of symptoms may show; however, on talking about this with my psychiatrist recently (I see her regularly not because I have to do so, but because I choose to do so), she tells me that the symptoms I do exhibit at times can be behaviours in the completely 'normal' as well (whatever 'normal' is, she agrees); hence, she said that she really cannot say whether such behaviours are due to my bipolar condition or would be present even if I did not suffer MI.

I was quite taken aback to read in another forum a post which did seem to imply that a person with a mental illness (MI) in a stress situation could be a risk or danger around sharp objects.  As a sweeping sort of generalization, that is very wrong and incorrect.  It is a incorrect statement that stigmatizes.  I do not know what the writer might have actually intended, but it certainly read to me that there was a clear implication of a 'risk or danger' in a stress situation in a person with depression (the thread related to depression).  Depression is a mental illness.

Mental illness can be either quite mild to very serious indeed.  Since I do suffer a serious mental illness in bipolar disorder, stigmatization and incorrect statements leap out at me and they are personally quite offensive and very cruel - offensive and cruel because I have and still do suffer stigma and I know the problems stigma can cause.  I am including here a link to another short post with two items of research from:

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University of Washington and also Harvard University. Mental Illness & Violence 

I have almost endless research on a few subjects, mental illness is one of them because the subject is so close to me.  Not only that but in my previous suburb there was a concentration of sufferers of mental illness (MI rehabilitation club in the area) and I was witness to their sufferings often brought about by isolation and acute and debilitating loneliness........most often caused by stigma in the general community, which even today does abound in the general community -  and to my mind too often too in The Church in some Catholics or even in groups.  Stigma can often have the same affect as a door slammed in a person's face.  Stigma verbalized can also have the similar affect of a statement: "You are not wanted nor needed, not good enough with nothing at all to offer".

Apologies for the formatting below, I did my best to correct it without any success.

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Mental Health Coordinating Council - New South Wales, Australia

http://www.mhcc.org.au/media/5649/mhcc-social-inclusion.pdf

4. Other people’s attitudes are crucial

“It is not the diagnosis of a mental health issue that leads to stigmatisation and

consequently to social exclusion. Rather it is the manifestation of societal ignorance

and fear about mental health issues that produce these outcomes. Stigma and social

exclusion are fed by anxious, insecure, and prejudiced communities which do not

tolerate difference.”44

The consequences of mental illness, including discrimination and stigma, can be just

as debilitating (or more so) than the illness itself,45 Further, they add to the longevity of

disablement and disadvantage.

In the Waikato University Mental Health Narratives Project, just as the support of others

was the most commonly identified factor in facilitating recovery, it was the attitudes and

behaviour of other people which were far and away the most common hindrance to

recovery. What got in the way of recovery were other people’s fears, their stigmatising

behaviour, their lack of understanding, and their rejecting behaviour in relation to

mental ill health.46

Stigma and discrimination work directly against recovery, as they directly lead to

and reinforce social exclusion at both an individual and systemic level. In one study,

the researchers found that more than one third of employers believed people with

a psychiatric disability to be violent or stupid.47 Frost and colleagues conclude that

employers’ reluctance to hire people known to have a mental illness is likely to be

due to a lack of understanding,48 while Graffam and colleagues cite several studies

showing that previous positive work-related experiences make employers more positive

towards hiring people with disabilities.49 In other words, once the mythology based on

assumptions and stereotypes is broken down by exposure to someone with mental

illness, attitudes do change. From changed attitudes comes inclusion, which leads to

further changed attitudes, and so on.

Combating negative stereotypes and attitudes remains one of the most crucial aspects of promoting

mental health for all people.

 

Edited September 14, 2016 by BarbaraTherese

[Guest]

All to often in The Church, those suffering mental illness are treated as objects for charity - and that is absolutely commendable and needed apostolate or charism, entirely important and valuable.  But rare is it that the gifts of those suffering mental illness are recognised and valued, taken up as contributions to The Church.  One only of those very real and absolutely valuable contributions is what we once called "The Apostolate of The Sick"  and was quite well known generally in Catholic culture.  Today, it is not so well known that I have ever been able to find anyway.  There is a group out of Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska known as "The Apostolate of Suffering" with membership information: HERE

Whether something is known or not, does not indicate whether it exits or does not exist.  The Apostolate of The Sick exists, always has and always will.

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https://zenit.org/articles/the-mentally-ill-patient-a-faithful-image-of-god-2/

 The Mentally Ill Patient: A Faithful Image of God

Cardinal Lozano Barragán’s Address at World Day of the Sick

- ADELAIDE, Australia, FEB. 18, 2006 (Zenit.org) -

 

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Excerpt only............".................If we approach the argument from this point of view, whereby the mentally ill patient does not have the knowledge or the faculty of full consent required to commit a mortal sin, his is not a deformed image of God, since that image can only be deformed by sin. Certainly, it is the suffering image of God, but not a deformed image. He is a reflection of the mystery of the victorious Cross of the Lord. Inspired by the image of the Suffering Servant of Yahweh (Isaiah 53:1-7) we are drawn to a conscious act of faith in the suffering Christ...................

........................It is true that the objective disorder of sin and its consequences are manifest in the mentally ill patient; however, at the same time, there is in him the historical equilibrium of the only possible order, the order and equilibrium of the Redemption............

 

PRIVATE VOWS

http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/topic/132845-home-mass-private-vows/

Edited September 14, 2016 by BarbaraTherese

[CatherineM]

The seriously mentally ill, contrary to stereotypes, are much more likely to be the victims of crime and violence than to commit them. Just the stats on females with schizophrenia being the victim of rape are staggering. 2/3rds of them have been the victim of rape, half of those have been victimized more than once. 

[Guest]

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http://depts.washington.edu/mhreport/facts_violence.php   "People with psychiatric disabilities are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violent crime (Appleby, et al., 2001). People with severe mental illnesses, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or psychosis, are 2 ½ times more likely to be attacked, raped or mugged than the general population (Hiday, et al.,1999)."

Fact 2: The public is misinformed about the link between mental illness and violence. University of Washington HERE

 A longitudinal study of American’s attitudes on mental health between 1950 and 1996 found, “the proportion of Americans who describe mental illness in terms consistent with violent or dangerous behavior nearly doubled.” Also, the vast majority of Americans believe that persons with mental illnesses pose a threat for violence towards others and themselves (Pescosolido, et al., 1996, Pescosolido et al., 1999).

EFFECTS OF FALSE INFORMATION

   Fact 3: Inaccurate beliefs about mental illness and violence lead to widespread stigma and discrimination:  University of Washington HERE

"The discrimination and stigma associated with mental illnesses stem in part, from the link between mental illness and violence in the minds of the general public (DHHS, 1999, Corrigan, et al., 2002).

The effects of stigma and discrimination are profound. Paraphrased from University of Washington Report

• Others will avoid living with sufferers
• Avoid socializing with them
• Avoid working with them
• Avoid renting to them
• Avoid employing them

The above leads to:

• Low self-esteem
• Isolation
• Hopelessness
• Deters public from seeking & wanting to pay for care

Sufferers who experience stigma

• Internalize the attitudes of those who stigmatize
• Sufferers can become so embarrassed or ashamed:
• They often conceal symptoms
• They can fail to seek treatment