[NYAPRS Enews] Violence Study Focuses on Substance Abuse

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Substance Abuse, Not Mental Illness, Causes Violent Crime

Study Finds People With Drink Or Drug Addictions Have Similar Rates Of
Violent Crimes Whether Or Not They Have A Mental Illness

bY Randeep Ramesh, social affairs editor  Guardian UK   6 September 2010

 

A report says that substance abuse, not mental illness, causes violent
crimes. 

Illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are not the reason
why violent crimes are committed by mental health patients, a study
showed today.

An exhaustive study which tracked more than 8,000 patients diagnosed
with schizophrenia and another 3,700 identified as having bipolar
disorder over three decades in Sweden found that the abuse of illegal
drugs and alcohol caused mentally ill people to perpetrate crimes of
murder, manslaughter and sexual violence.

Dr Seena Fazel, a clinical senior lecturer in forensic psychiatry and
consultant forensic psychiatrist at the University of Oxford, said: "The
relationship between violent crime and serious mental illness can be
explained by alcohol and substance abuse. If you take away the substance
abuse, the contribution of the illness itself is minimal."

The academic said that all over Europe patients had been
reinstitutionalised because of "this view that people with mental
illness are a high risk ... there's a lot of stigma". He said a solution
would be to tackle drug and alcohol abuse across the whole population.

Dr Fazel added: "It's probably more dangerous walking outside a pub on a
late night than walking outside a hospital where patients have been
released."

He said rates of violent crime among people who were mentally ill and
abused substances were no different from those among other people who
abused substances.

People with mental illnesses who abuse substances have violent crime
rates which are six to seven times higher than the general population -
as do people with no mental health issues who have similar drink or
drugs problems.

Dr Fazel said data also showed that those who were mentally ill but did
not abuse substances were only at "minimally increased risk" of
committing violent crime.

Around 0.9% to 1% of the general population suffers from bipolar
disorder while 0.4% to 0.5% have schizophrenia.

Research has shown that around 20% of people with bipolar disorder abuse
alcohol and drugs compared with about 2% of the general population. Dr
Fazel said that one reason for this might be that substance abuse was
"genetically programmed" into patients.

"We are looking at two reasons why this figure is higher. One is whether
patients attempt to self-medicate with substance abuse. The other is
that there is a possibility of genetic predisposition towards substance
abuse given that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder both have an element
of genetic predisposition."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/sep/06/substance-abuse-mental-ill
ness-crimes/print 

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