School Shootings Strengthen Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness.

The Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal (3/17, Ungar) reported, “A stigma continues to surround mental illness, and some advocates say it’s been strengthened in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shootings, which caused many to connect mental illness to violence.” The Courier-Journal added, “In reality, studies show that the mentally ill commit only a small portion of violent acts. A 2006 study in the American Journal of Psychiatry, for example, concluded that patients with severe mental illness, as identified by hospital admissions, committed about five percent of all violent crimes.” The Courier-Journal quoted American Psychiatric Association president Dilip Jeste, MD, who said in a statement made in December, “About one-quarter of all Americans have a mental disorder in any given year, and only a very small percentage of them will ever commit violent crimes.”

Related Links:

— “Stigma surrounding mental illness grows in wake of school shootings, “Laura Ungar, Courier-Journal, March 18, 2013.

Posted in In The News.