Bondi attacker had ‘mental health issues’, but most people with mental illness are not violent

Whatever the circumstances, such acts of violence must be condemned. If mental health issues contribute to such acts, they must be understood and prevented.

However, it is important to note that the vast majority of people with mental illness are not at risk of violence towards others.

Unfortunately, there is still an unacceptable level of stigma and misunderstanding about mental illness, including the mistaken belief that people with mental illness are violent. People can draw conclusions from cases such as the Bondi attack, where people with a history of mental illness engage in violence.

So, is there a link between mental illness and violent crime? Here’s what the evidence says.

Research from Australia and overseas shows that a small percentage of people with severe forms of mental illness may be at increased risk of violence.

Our research in Victoria, for example, shows that 10% of people with schizophrenia (a serious form of mental illness in which the person may be so ill that they are disconnected from reality) have committed a violent crime. This compares to about 2.4% of the general population. So, even if people with schizophrenia were more likely to commit a violent offense, this is not the case for the vast majority of them.

Findings are mixed regarding a direct relationship between the most common mental illnesses, such as anxiety and depression, and violence.

Although the reasons why anyone – including people with psychiatric illnesses – commit offenses vary, we identify three categories of people with mental illness who engage in violence.

The first concerns the very small group of people with serious mental illness, usually schizophrenia, who act violently as a direct result of the symptoms of the mental illness.

For these people, their illness leads to irrational thoughts and beliefs that can increase the likelihood that they will behave violently. A person may develop delusional beliefs that they are being targeted or that their life is in danger if they do not act violently against perceived enemies.

For these people, if they did not exhibit the particular symptoms of mental illness, they would not offend.

People in this category can be found not guilty by reason of mental deficiency. They are then usually held in secure hospitals or prisons where they are treated and ultimately released, when it is determined that they no longer pose a risk to others.

The second category is much larger and more varied. For this group, people commit crimes not because of their mental illness per se, but because of the individual and social problems that can accompany mental illness.

People with certain forms of mental illness may be more likely to use substances, for example, which can, in turn, contribute to delinquency.

Many of the negative social factors associated with severe forms of mental illness overlap with negative social factors that increase the likelihood of being violent.

People with severe forms of mental illness and whose histories are characterized by social and family disruption and disadvantage as well as abuse, behavioral problems, substance use, academic failure and disengagement are significantly more likely to commit crimes than people with mental illnesses who do not have such disorders. their background.

Of course, most people with psychotic illness do not come from such deprived backgrounds.

Research and clinical experience also show that factors related to delinquency among this group are similar to those among people without mental illness. Besides substance abuse, this can include violent attitudes, exposure to trauma and violence, association with antisocial people, and poor family and professional support.

The final group of people with mental illness who commit crimes do so regardless of their mental illness. People in this group are generally characterized by early antisocial and illegal behavior.

They are distinguished from other mentally ill offenders by a pervasive and stable pattern of delinquency, regardless of their mental state. This behavior almost always precedes the onset of mental illness.

Although people with a psychopathic or antisocial personality disorder will be included in this group, not everyone in the group will have such a personality disorder.

It is not mental illness itself that causes people to be violent. Rather, it is about the symptoms of diseases and associated factors.

There is therefore good evidence that providing psychiatric and psychological care can help manage symptoms of mental illness and reduce the risk of violence.

It is also important to address the broader factors linked to delinquency and violence among people with mental illness.

Unfortunately, partly because of the pressures on mental health services, staff have few resources to help deal with the range of factors that can lead to violent behavior. Continued investment and education are needed to strengthen services and address the factors that lead to violence among people with mental illness.

Although we have made some progress in recognizing that mental illness affects a significant percentage of the population, individual acts of violence committed by a person with mental illness should not lead us to jump to the conclusion that all people with mental illness of mental illness are violent.

James Ogloff is Emeritus Professor of Forensic Behavioral Sciences at Swinburne University of Technology. This article was originally published on The Conversation, a news analysis and commentary website written by academic experts.