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• The murderer is diabetic (or hypertensive also kills)
  Fernando Verdu
  Published on: 1 December 2008

• Published on: 1 December 2008

  The murderer is diabetic (or hypertensive also kills)

  • Fernando Verdu, Professor of Legal and Forensic Medicine
  • Other Contributors:
    • Francesc Frances. Assistant professor of Legal and Forensic Medicine. Ana Castello. Professor of Legal and Forensic Medicine. University of Valencia

  Dangerousness criteria (1) are another source of discrimination against the mentally ill, but not the greatest.

  There is a statistically and clinically significant association between violence and major mental illness, and some studies have demonstrated that major mental illness is associated with at least a fourfold increase in the chances of violence compared to the general population. (2)

  However, a stu...

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  Dangerousness criteria (1) are another source of discrimination against the mentally ill, but not the greatest.

  There is a statistically and clinically significant association between violence and major mental illness, and some studies have demonstrated that major mental illness is associated with at least a fourfold increase in the chances of violence compared to the general population. (2)

  However, a study showed (3) that the population impact of patients with severe mental illness on violent crime varies by gender and age, and that the population-attributable risk fraction of patients was 5%, suggesting that patients with severe mental illness commit one in twenty violent crimes.

  On the other hand, rates of victimisation for people with severe psychiatric disorders are shown to be high and far greater than those for the general population, although men and women with severe mental ill ness tend to be seen as authors and not as victims of violence. (4)

  The media continue to damage a very important part of society, made up of the mentally ill, their families and friends. News such as these are not unfrequent in the media:

  'A mentally disturbed kills her father in Anywhere County'.

  'A schizophrenic who stabbed his grandfather declared that he did it just to scare him'.

  'A schizophrenic stabbed eight children and wounded 19 at a college'.

  We should not believe that all people with schizophrenia do such things. Of the thousands of people who are diagnosed with schizophrenia in the world, only a small percentage has criminal behaviour. The rest live and let live. Most suffer from the disease in anonymity while their families and friends are socially discriminated by the community.

  There should not be any discrimination in the treatment of people with illness in the media. Compare the previously reported headlines with these ones:

  'An asthmatic kills her father in Anywhere County'

  'A cirrhotic who stabbed his grandfather declared that he did it just to scare him'

  'A nephrosclerotic kills stabbed eight children and wounds 19 at a college'

  Will this be a reality someday?

  We declare that we have not conflict of interest.

  1. Large MM, Ryan CJ, Nielssen OB and Hayes RA. The danger of dangerousness: why we must remove the dangerousness criterion from our mental healthJ Med Ethics 2008;34:877-881.

  2. Walsh E, Gilvarry C, Samele C et al. Predicting violence in schizophrenia: a prospective study. Schizophrenia Research 2004; 67: 247 252.

  3. Fazels S, Grann M. The population impact of severe mental illness on violent crime. American Journal Psychiatry 2006; 163: 1397 1403.

  4. Lovell AM, Cook J, Velpry L. Violence towards people with severe mental disorders: a review of the literature and of related concepts Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique. 2008 Jun;56(3):197-207.

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  Conflict of Interest:
  None declared.

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