Title: Mental illness and violence - Harvard Health
Headings: Mental illness and violence
Mental illness and violence
Rates of violence compared
Assessing risk of violence
Preventing violence
Share this page:
Print this page:

Content: In separate studies, the  investigators found that people with bipolar disorder or  schizophrenia were more likely — to a modest but statistically  significant degree — to commit assaults or other violent crimes  when compared with people in the general population. Differences  in the rates of violence narrowed, however, when the researchers  compared patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia with  their unaffected siblings. This suggested that shared genetic  vulnerability or common elements of social environment, such as  poverty and early exposure to violence, were at least partially  responsible for violent behavior. However, rates of violence  increased dramatically in those with a dual diagnosis (see "Rates  of violence compared"). Taken together with the MacArthur study, these papers have  painted a more complex picture about mental illness and violence. They suggest that violence by people with mental illness — like  aggression in the general population — stems from multiple  overlapping factors interacting in complex ways. These include  family history, personal stressors (such as divorce or  bereavement), and socioeconomic factors (such as poverty and  homelessness). Substance abuse is often tightly woven into this  fabric, making it hard to tease apart the influence of other less  obvious factors. Rates of violence compared
Percentage of people convicted of at least one violent  crime, 1973–2006
Source: Fazel S, et al.