The “Crazies” are not very violent

Psychiatry is an imperfect science at best. It is by no means a “pseudoscrience,” although it is frequently blamed for being same.

I have known LOTS of honest, decent people who have (I think, sincerely) seen psychiatric research as a difficult attempt to elucidate truth about the human animal.

Oh, I know that the result of published research in medical journals is biased not only by difficult things to measure — like pre-existing ideologies– but also, easier things to measure like the funding source, which could (understandably) bias a researcher toward whatever he or she would LIKE to find.

There are things that the public would like to believe about psychiatric patients that just aren’t true.

At several times in my career, people have actually expressed concern about me, and about my safety with my patients.

I have seen a LOT of articles about the increase in violence in our society, What bothers me is the people who think that violence is caused by psychiatric patients.

It just plain isn’t.

I first heard this when I was in training. Back then, I remember reading some very elegant statistical studies that opined the percentage of violent folks among the mentally ill was similar to the percentage of violent folks in the population at large.

Schizophrenia is the mental illness which causes folks to “split” from reality. The government recently published a study that suggests not over 10% of such folks are violent.

If psychiatrists are not seeing many violent folks (I don’t) then psychiatrists (and by extension, psychiatry) are in no way I can believe directly responsible for our society’s increase in violence.

I am not saying we are incapable of helping these folks.

I am saying that they usually don’t make it into our offices.

Only then, could a judgement be made…

Ask politicians about violence.

Especially while they are campaigning.

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