Debate on mental illness and violence was oversimplified

doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7375.1300/a

BMJ 2002;325:1300 ( 30 November )

Letters

Debate on mental illness and violence was oversimplified

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ The central message of Walsh and Fahy's editorial $---$ that the contribution to societal violence of mentally disorderedpersons is too small to justify the apparent preoccupation ofpoliticians and the print and broadcast media $---$ is correct, althoughit is becoming hackneyed after endless repetition.¹ Despitethis, an established association exists between mental disorderand violence that cannot be explained by cofactors.² Even ifthere were no statistical association psychiatry would still havea role when they docoexist.

The failure of forensic psychiatry to show simple associations between specific symptoms (of psychosis) and violence has beenfollowed in recent years by repeated assertions that the relationbetween mental illness and violence is minor. At the same time,medium secure psychiatric facilities continue to proliferate andforensic psychiatry continues to expand and superspecialise. Somemight say that "less than 10% of serious violence" is an appreciableproportion to be . . . [Full text of this article]