SAN ANGELO, Texas - The recent shooting incident in Tucson, Ariz., among other issues brings up the question of whether or not the mentally ill are more prone than others to commit violent acts. The Tucson shooter probably suffers from schizophrenia, based on information furnished by the media. Frequently schizophrenia does not manifest until young adulthood, when a somewhat predisposed person suffers a psychotic break brought on by newly experienced stressors such as going away to college or joining the military.
People who acted normal until then suddenly exhibit symptoms of schizophrenia such as hallucinations, delusions, disturbed thinking, agitation and bizarre behavior believed to be caused by excess dopamine function.
Reduced dopamine, serotonin and other neurotransmitters may lead to lack of pleasure, social withdrawal, apathy, impaired spontaneity and lack of emotions.
The general public is starting to voice concerns about to how to protect itself from the violent acts of the mentally ill as portrayed by the media. Mental illness does not accurately predict violent behavior any better than youth, poverty, being male and having a violent history does in the non-patient population. Research has shown that 80 to 90 percent of mentally ill people never commit violent acts. The media exploit violent acts committed by the mentally ill to take advantage of the public's fear of violence by stigmatizing and stereotyping the mentally ill.
One thing is for sure, though: The mentally ill do commit some violent crimes, especially when the voices in their heads tell them to hurt themselves or others. Some people never get treatment for their illness and others simply go off their medication because they are beginning to feel better and think they do not need it anymore.
Like racial profiling, are we supposed to do weird behavior profiling? Some people are merely eccentric for the heck of it and there is no harm in that. Many young people act and dress bizarrely as a way to be different. Nowadays, it really takes a lot to be different: Purple hair, lots of chains and combat-style boots do not accomplish this anymore. Are we supposed to herd all these different— behaving people into mental health providers' offices for psychological assessment whether they want this or not in hope of identifying someone with the potential of becoming violent?
Maybe a partial answer is for friends, family, classmates, colleagues and neighbors to become more involved when someone's behavior changes significantly toward the weird and arrange for help rather than ignoring symptoms out of fear of being wrong or not wanting to meddle in other people's business. Surely, Jared Loughner, the young man accused in the Tucson killings, had people in his life who noticed his behavior becoming more and more bizarre. How much harm would it have been for someone to speak up and arrange for a mental health assessment?
The right anti-psychotic medication along with psychotherapy to increase reality based thinking may well have averted this tragedy in Tucson and others like it.
Evi Shaw is a licensed professional counselor in solo private practice, a diplomate of the American Psychotherapy Association and an approved consultant of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. Contact her at Evishaw@verizon.net.
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