Fact: A mentally ill person is far more likely to be the victim of a violent crime than commit it
"People with psychiatric disabilities are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violent crime (Appleby, et al., 2001)."
"The absolute risk of violence among the mentally ill as a group is very small. . . only a small proportion of the violence in our society can be attributed to persons who are mentally ill (Mulvey, 1994)."
http://depts.washington.edu/mhreport/facts_violence.php
"It is a sad commentary on the nature of public interest that the estimated 1% of individuals with untreated severe mental illness who commit acts of violence grabs so many headlines while the 25% of those who fall victim to violence generate so few. It is equally difficult to fathom how critics can find involuntary treatment more unacceptable for those in need of treatment than the high chance they’ll become victims of violence."
http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/about-us/our-blog/69-no-state/2030-new-study-mentally-ill-are-often-targets-of-violence
I'm sick of seeing people display bias toward the mentally ill on DU. Not only is this wrong headed and completely out of proportion to any violent crime committed by the mentally ill, it only serves to worsen the any problem that does exist by stigmatizing mental illness and discouraging people from seeking help when they need it for fear of being branded.
Here is a perfect example of what can happen when we treat people with mental illnesses like schizophrenia like human beings and allow them to seek proper professional treatment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/opinion/sunday/schizophrenic-not-stupid.html
The biggest social problem from isn't mental illness isn't the people itself. It is the way is our messed up society brands the mentally ill, provides poor support for them and stigmatizes them so badly people who desperately need help don't seek it.
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