USA Today (11/28, Ryu) reports, “Schizophrenia is a lifelong, psychotic disorder that affects fewer than 1% of the U.S. population, but is one of the most stigmatized mental illnesses,” affecting “how people think, feel and act.” While “people have also associated it with mass violence or shootings,” mental health clinicians “warn the relationship between schizophrenia and violence is often oversimplified and rarely ever causal.” Even though “it’s true that some may exhibit aggression or unpredictability when their symptoms go untreated or when combined with substance use, research has supported that most are not actually violent.” In fact, “serial killers are more likely to exhibit antisocial personality disorders (such as sociopathy or psychopathy), according to the American Psychiatric Association, and those with schizophrenia are at increased risk of becoming victims, rather than perpetrators, of violence.”
Related Links:
— “Do you really know what schizophrenia is? Most people don’t. “Jenna Ryu, USA Today, November 28, 2022