Following the media’s take on the “Would-be Shooter” story and other stories that deal with the mental illnesses of individuals who commit violent crimes I wrote a bit of a essay to myself about the state of affairs in the midst of mental illness and how everyone can see hope in the mentally ill. The struggles of the mentally ill are unique to themselves, and often times few people can relate to them, certainly, that has been my case with schizophrenia.
Statistics show that only 4% of violent crimes can be attributed to individuals with mental illness. The National Institute of Mental Health did a study and found that 16% of people with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have a prevalence of violence in their history. The statistics on mental illness and violence actually show that violent crimes are relatively small and nearly on par with the so-called normal populace.
The essay I’ve written is based on the experiences I’ve had with the worst of worst of mental illnesses. The one that is more stigmatized than other illnesses, schizophrenia. It strikes me often that an illness which 1 in 100 people have has been manipulated into this big boogey man that no one can recover from. It’s true, schizophrenia is never something you can fully recover from, but it’s also not something that people should be afraid of because you can live a successful life with the caveat of taking medication for life.