Mental illness alone no trigger for violence

An article published in the February 7th edition of The Chronicle Herald:

By Carla K. Johnson, The Associated Press

CHICAGO — A new large study challenges the idea that mental illness alone is a leading cause of violence.

Researchers instead blame a combination of factors, specifi­cally substance abuse and a his­tory of violent acts, that drives up the danger when combined with mental illness in what they call an “intricate link."

People with serious mental ill­ness, without other big risk fac­tors, are no more violent than most people, according to the study of more than 34,000 U.S. adults.

“Mental illness can provide the knee-jerk explanation for the Virginia Tech shootings," but it’s not a strong predictor of violence by itself, said author Eric Elbo­gen [pictured] of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

Elbogen compiled a “top 10" list of things that predict violent behaviour, based on the analysis. Younger age topped the list. History of violence came next, followed by male gender, history of juvenile detention, divorce or separation in the past year, histo­ry of physical abuse, parental criminal history and unemploy­ment in the past year. Rounding out the list were severe mental illness with substance abuse and being a crime victim in the past year.

After the 2007 Virginia Tech killings by a student ordered to get psychiatric treatment, some states considered laws adding mental health questions to back­ground checks for gun buyers or denying weapons to people who’ve been involuntarily com­mitted for mental health treat­ment.

The new research, which bol­sters other similar findings, rais­es questions about such laws, ex­perts said. Such legislation may be both ineffective and discour­age people who need help from getting treatment.“We are being misled by our own fears," said Columbia Uni­versity psychiatry professor Dr. Paul Appelbaum, who wasn’t in­volved in the new study. “We ought to be concerned about pro­viding good treatment and help­ing people lead fulfilling lives, not obsessed with protecting ourselves from phantom threats that appear to be unrelated to mental illness."

U.S. systems to treat mental ill­ness and substance abuse are separate, uncoordinated and could do a better job treating peo­ple with both problems, Appel­baum said.

Also see:

The Intricate Link Between Violence and Mental Disorder: Results From the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions

Photograph of Eric Elbo­gen courtesy of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.