Mental illness violence

Although the Brady Bill failed in its first attempt at passage in 1991, Congress passed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act in November 1993. The law established a five-day waiting period, after which the gun could be sold if the purchaser met an expanded list of requirements. (In addition to barring convicted felons and the mentally ill, the law also barred from gun purchase anyone who was currently under a court order for stalking or harassment.)... 

Gun Ownership Tied to Higher Risk for Women s Murder, Suicide. American Medical News, vol. 40, April 21, 1997, p. 18. Reports a study that identified risk factors for death of women by murder or suicide. Guns are the most common cause of death, and mental illness, substance abuse, and domestic violence are all important factors. The article recommends encouraging people to store guns safely or to remove them from the household and supports laws that forbid gun purchase by convicted batterers. 

Table 17.1. In this context, mental retardation deserves special comment. Although most persons with mental retardation are not violent, there is an increased risk of inappropriate aggression among individuals with psychiatric diagnoses in general, including mental retardation. Most research on associations between violence and mental illness has focused on adults. To assess the relationship between aggressive behaviors and psychiatric disorders, it is useful to look at the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in those who have committed violent acts, and to examine the prevalence of violence in psychiatric patients in different settings.

Mood dysregulation and/or thought disturbance increase the probability of aggression. Recent data suggest a link between mental illness and violence individuals with psychotic or mood disorders are five times more likely to engage in violence than those in the normal population. Substance abuse more than doubles this risk (Swartz et ah, 1998). 

Researchers find that abuse and violence can alter a child s brain chemistry, placing him or her at risk for various problems, including drug abuse, cognitive disabilities, and mental illness later in life. 

In the early part of the twentieth century, marijuana and hashish (concentrated resin from the hemp plant) became popular with artists and musicians, who felt that marijuana enhanced their creativity. Moreover, all sorts of excessive behavior, including violence and mental illness, became associated with marijuana. In 1936, a movie called Tell Your Children was financed by a small church group who wanted to deliver a strong cautionary message to parents about the evils of... 

There is a reluctance to attribute so-called bad behavior or loss of ethical restraint to a psychoactive substance. Western philosophy, religion, and tradition tend to hold human beings responsible for their harmful behaviors and eschew excusing such behavior on the basis of so-called mental illness. Indeed, the concept of mental illness has been subject to challenge by this author and many others. Nonetheless, the weight of considerable evidence indicates that psychoactive substances can play a role in causing suicide, violence, and other forms of disinhibited criminal... 

I want to reemphasize that drug-induced disturbances in mood or in behavior should be viewed as genuine neurological disorders rather than as vague mental illnesses. The capacity of speculative biochemical imbalances or genetic factors to cause or contribute to mania or depression remains unproven. Nor do we know the specific biochemical or neurological mechanisms whereby psychoactive substances cause mental disturbances. But the capacity for psychoactive substances to disrupt brain function and hence mental function is beyond dispute. Furthermore, a great deal of empirical data confirm their capacity to cause disinhibition, mania, depression, and other mental phenomena associated with violence toward oneself and others, as well as other destructive behaviors. 

Compared with persons without a psychiatric diagnosis, the one year prevalence of violence is five to six times higher in patients with serious mental illness in the community (Swanson et al., 1990). The risk for aggression is increased further in patients with severe mental illness who are hospitalized (Tardiff et al., 1997 Owen et al., 1999 Barlow et al., 2000) and in patients with comorbid schizophrenia and substance abuse (Steadman et al., 1998 Elbogen Johnson, 2009). Thus, patients with schizophrenia represent a group at elevated risk for violence. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia declares that If. . . [the defendant] has a mental illness which makes it likely that he will commit other violent acts when his sentence is served, imprisonment is not a remedy. Not only would it be wrong to imprison him, but imprisonment would not secure the community against repetitions of his violence. Hospitalization, on the other hand, would serve the dual purpose of giving hiiYi the treatment required for his illness and keeping him confined until it would be safe to release him. ... 

Diseases result from genetic factors and from the deleterious effects of things in the environment, from microbes, trauma, violence, or deficient diets. They often involve abnormalities in molecular processes affected by both genetic and environmental factors. Diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mental illnesses, and age-related disorders, are complex, influenced by many different genes, that affect many processes. 

Molecular imaging can be used to relate mental illness, including violence and excessive aggressiveness, to specific abnormalities of molecular processes in different parts of the brain. PET, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), or optical imaging measure regional molecular processes. 

A goal of the Foundation was to promote scholarly and scientific exchanges and joint research projects among physicians and scientists from the Soviet Union, Japan, the United States and other countries. The founding document stated, A testable hypothesis is whether mind/brain science can help explain violent and overly aggressive behavior. Violence can be viewed not only as socioeconomic and political phenomena, but also as a form of mental illness, subjert to investigation by means of biochemical, electrical and psychological methods. ... 

The basic premise of this book is that we can create a molecular theory of mental illness, analogous to the germ theory of disease. Molecular imaging makes it possible to search for patterns in the chemical processes in the brain that are related to violence and other forms of mental illness, involving hormones, neurotransmitters, neuroreceptors, reuptake sites, ions, peptides, and proteins. 

There are episodes in which disgruntled workers or terrorists commit sabotage that leads to emergencies. A growing cause of injury and death at work involves workplace violence. Typically, employees or former employees attack or kill other employees or supervisors. Some of the cases involve depression and other mental illnesses unknown to employers. See Case 29-4. 

James shows no clear symptoms of mental illness, but seems at high risk of violence ... 

Cleaver, H., Unell, Land Aldgate, J. (2011) Children s Needs - Parental Capacity. Child Abuse Parental Mental Illness, learning disability, substance misuse and domestic violence, 2nd Edition. The Stationery Office, Norwich UK... 

Only a small percentage of violence is perpetrated by the mentally ill. Gang members, distraught relatives, drug users, social deviants, or threatened individuals are often aggressive or violent. A history of violent behavior is one of the best indicators of future violence by an individual. This information, however, may not be available, especially for new workers, patients, or clients. Even if this information were available, workers not directly involved with these individuals would not have access to it. 

Lithium may be useful for a number of patients with episodic, recurrent symptoms with or without affective illness, including episodic rage, anger or violence, and selfdestructive behavior such symptoms may be associated with psychotic or nonpsychotic illnesses, personality disorders, organic disorders, or mental retardation... 

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