Mental Illness and Violence are not related

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There is the assumption that everyone with a mental illness is or will become violent, but it is most commonly used as an excuse for what someone has done.  In turn it adds to the ever-present stigma that comes with a diagnosis of mental illness.  

According to research done at Oxford University it was found that two of the most serious psychiatric disorders, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder - can lead to bouts of delusions, hallucinations and loss of contact with reality; however, these conditions are not an indicator for potential for violence.  In research done with more than 20,000 people in 2009 showed that the probability of violence was greater in those with who were abusing drugs and alcohol, then those with a mental illness.  Mental illness is more often used to explain violence and is over reported by the media with blatant false information.  These reporting’s make it nearly impossible to change the impression of the general public.  Heaven forbid people should be responsible for their own actions.    

Everyone has a tendency to be violent given the right circumstances, so to blame an illness is incorrect. Knowing how the brain works in these instances is crucial.  My dad was a paranoid schizophrenic who refused medical care; he used drugs and alcohol instead - in theory making him a triple threat in the area of being violent (according to the research and the general public) in reality; he was only a danger to himself.  Becoming a recluse he died alone in his bathroom of a massive heart attack.    

We have become a society of blaming  others or incidents for what we do.  It is rarely our own fault.  Look in the news and you will see celebrities who when caught in adultery immediately claim they have a sexual addiction and are seeking treatment. Really??  How about being honest and stating the truth, you can't be faithful and are looking for a way out.  Nearly anyone in a high-profile job or having celebrity status immediately turns to the mental illness genre for the reason for their actions.  Since we tend to idolize these people we immediately believe it is ok and everyone jumps on the band wagon.  What this does to those who truly live with these illnesses, it undermines there condition and hopes for recovery and becoming an accepted member of society.    

To put things into perspective soccer fans are more likely to be violent during a soccer match, but the person in general would never be seen as violent, but simply a fan.  This is true, as a soccer parent for 14 years, the game itself and the parents/fans watching can become very volatile.  It is a high pressure, emotional game that is taken very, very seriously.  In reality, statistics show that 1 in 14.3 million people will be killed by a person with schizophrenia, while you are three times more likely to be killed by a lightning strike at home.    

One of the worst things is to admit being mentally ill so it is kept quiet, and we suffer in silence because if anyone found out, we know we would be ostracized.  The general public would be surprised at the number people they associate with each day with some sort of mental illness, including the two most serious disorders, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.  Before you judge someone, make sure you know who they really are, what is truly behind their actions and how you may be able to help them. 

Related articles

• A physiological marker for false memories (guardian.co.uk)
• Prejudice and Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness (godplacedherinmypath.wordpress.com)

What does Mental Illness look like to you?

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Twisting and turning with nowhere to go, running from fear that no one can hear.  Hidden well in the depths of our souls searching for answers that only we can know.  We live in our minds, a place of confusion, hoping for understanding, though we dare not speak its name.  It controls our days and keeps us awake at night.  It is responsible for dark circles and hunger as it eats away at our souls. 

To the outside world, we pretend we are strong, that we are alive and ready for adventure, when in reality for us, it is always Halloween – we wear the mask of confusion and let others interpret it as they wish. Until then, we wear the mask, stumble through our days and look for the light that only we can see, the light that will guide us out of the confusion and into a life, we desire to live, full of rainbows and blue skies and the clear direction we so desperately need.    

Related articles

• This Journey (aimlesslypassionate.wordpress.com)

Are you living behind your own mask?

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Masks:

I’m frightened.  I’m unsure, because of what you might think of me, because of what some of you might say about me.  What you think and say, the way you act influences me.  I act as if they don’t, but they do.  Maybe you are frightened too.  Maybe the ones who will mock me the most signify the most frightened, I’m unsure.

You go by me day after day, you have activities near me, you even sit by me (though not too near, as if afraid of being misunderstood), but you don’t know me.  You form your opinions without real information.  You take the mask and try to declare the person, no, less than that, if you even understood the mask, you might glimpse the person.  How much time would it take?  How much effort?  I’m tired of hiding and I disrespect myself for sitting quietly, watching this happen to myself and to others.

We cross-space, glimpse a mask, or an opinion, and hurry along our way.  I am guilty, as are you.

What if, suddenly, we see one another for who we are?  The mask drops for an instant, followed by an embarrassed silence, a mumbled apology for being human.  Quickly we alter the subject or hurry away, frightened of what might befall us and perhaps frightened that it never will.  How many are there?  Am I one or many?  What will it take to change?  Maybe it will take only one.

By:  R.H. (1999)

We are all Hoarders

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Chaos is my word for today.  Chaos can send you into a world of confusion and depression, lethargy and just plain nothingness.  Chaos can create extreme anxiety because there seem to be no way out.  Chaos around us will throw you into chaos and paralyze you with fear.  Sounds horrible, doesn’t it?  Sorry to be so negative, but the more we let things build up around us, the harder it is to find our way out, to find a way to be at peace and feel free from our prison of stuff. 

I have watched the T.V. show Hoarders and wonder how people can live like that, most who watch the show will readily criticize and say they just need to get off their butts and clean, let go of the junk.  While this is true, it’s not that easy for any of us to do.  To an extent, we are all hoarders.  We all have things  we do not want to let go of, items that collect in drawers, in corners and even in our minds, we cannot  imagine parting with.   Face it, we all have the notorious junk drawer.  That one place where we keep items that we know we will need one day, for some reason.  

What we see on T.V. is obviously the extreme and the majority of us will never get to that point, but the tendency is there for anyone to become trapped within their own chaos, whether it is physical items that others can see or mental that we hide from everyone.  Mental hoarding, while probably not an official term, to me is just as debilitating as hoarding objects and becoming buried by them.  I believe we can also become buried by our thoughts.  Those thoughts we keep burying in our minds can bury us just as easily as material objects.  They cloud our judgement, blind us to reality and keep us from thinking clearly and rationally.  

  

The label hoarder can come in many forms.  What are you hoarding?  

Related articles

• Toss The Chaos (multicreativist.wordpress.com)
• The rise of hoarding (bbc.co.uk)