Some Key Facts:
1. Four out of five Canadians believe people labelled
mentally ill are dangerous or violent.
-- MacLean's Magazine, August 10, 1998, based
on Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) statistics.
2. Almost half the media stories we read on mental illness
involve crime (46%).
-- Health Education Authority study, 1996, England's
National Health Service.
3. People discharged from psychiatric hospitals are no
more violent than others in their communities.
-- The MacArthur Risk Assessment Study, 1998:
http://macarthur.virginia.edu/violence.html
-- Henry Steadman, et al."Violence by People Discharged
From Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Facilities and by Others
in the Same Neighbourhoods", Archives of General Psychiatry,
Vol. 55, May 1998;
-- J. Monahan & J. Arnold. "Violence by People
with Mental Illness: A Consensus Statement", Psychiatric
Rehabilitation Journal, Spr. 1996;
-- G.T. Harris & M. Rice. Psychiatric Services,
Sept. 1997.
4. People labelled schizophrenic are no more violent than
others. Rates of violence do not change according to diagnosis.
http://macarthur.virginia.edu/violence.html
5. Many believe that hallucinations and delusions make
one more capable of violence, but regardless of their content,
"delusions did not predict a higher rate of violent
behavior. Violence was more likely to be associated with
high levels of anger and high degrees of impulsiveness than
it was with delusions."
-- Dr. Paul Appelbaum (MacArthur Risk Assessment Study),
quoted in, “Mentally ill no more likely to be violent
than anyone else”, Anita Srikameswaran, Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, May 9, 2000.
-- Press Release, Royal
College of Psychiatrists, England.
6. The types of violence committed by people discharged
from psychiatric hospitals are no different than those committed
by others (most attacks happen in the family home).
http://macarthur.virginia.edu/violence.html
7. 1 in 5 Canadians are said to have mental illness, according
to the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry and the CMHA. Yet
only 1 in 25 crimes are committed by the mentally ill, including
violent crimes.
http://www.atkinsonfdn.on.ca/publications/fellowship/simmie/simmie4.html
See: "Out of Mind" Series (Parts 4, 6), by
Scott Simmie for the Toronto Star.
-- J. Monahan, researcher (MacArthur Risk Assessment
Study).
8. The odds of psychiatrists predicting violence are known
to be "no greater than chance", or flipping a coin.
http://macarthur.virginia.edu/violence.html
9. Prozac can trigger or cause suicidal or aggressive thoughts
and behaviours.
http://www.breggin.com/prozacbook.html
-- P. Breggin, Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry (1997,
p.81)
-- M.H. Teicher et al (1990) "Emergence of intense suicidal
preoccupations during fluoxetine treatment". American
Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 207-210.
-- Food and Drug Admninistration, Transcript of Psychopharmacologic
Drugs Advisory Committee (1991, September 20).
10. Ontario has adopted "Community Treatment Orders",
which will force people in the community to take medications
against their will, even if they are not a threat. This
was done to ensure "public safety".
New Brunswick has blocked Community Treatment Orders and
funded strong community supports instead of costly institutions.
This is a more workable option according to several studies
and a majority of mental health advocates.
http://www.atkinsonfdn.on.ca/publications/fellowship/simmie/simmie7.html
See: "Out of Mind" Series (Part 7), by Scott
Simmie for the Toronto Star.
11. Patients' treatment results and quality of life did
not improve while on community treatment orders.
http://www.bazelon.org/opcstud.html
-- Policy Research Associates, Inc., Delmar, NY.
12. "The great majority of people who are currently disordered
are not violent. None of the data give any support to the
sensationalized caricature of the mentally disordered served
up by the media, the shunning of former patients by employers
and neighbours in the community, or "lock 'em up" laws proposed
by politicians pandering to public fears. The risk associated
with 'major' mental disorders such as schizophrenia and
affective disorder is modest indeed. Clearly, mental health
status makes at best a trivial contribution to the overall
level of violence in society."
-- Dr. John Monahan "The Scientific Status of
Research on Clinical and Actuarial Predictions of Violence",
in D. Faigman et al (Eds). Modern Scientific Evidence:
The Law and Science of Expert Testimony. vol. 1 (West
Paul Publishing Company, 1997)
13. "The media blames 'random' violence on "nuts", the
"mentally ill". Politicians react by scapegoating us with
backward laws. Meanwhile, society's violence problems go
unchecked and we become targets of worse abuses."
