[MatthewS]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Whatever is or is not wrong with Callum, the constant equating of mental illness with danger to others is out of order.

Statistically, there are likely to be several people using this forum who are currently being treated, or have been treated at some time, for some form of mental illness.

It is a complete but worryingly common misconception that the mentally ill, or those with mental (or learning) disabilities, are a danger to the rest of us. Not only is this an unfair perception of mental illness but it has the negative effect of increasing people's fear of and therefore aggression towards those who do suffer.

When people say they think Callum is schizophrenic and then follow that up with a comment about bodies under the patio it plays into a very nasty paradigm in our society. People with schizophrenia are far more likely than people without to be physically and verbally abused, attacked and even murdered. The perception of them as dangerous leads to increased isolation and social exclusion and increases their already statistically high risk of being harmed or killed by other, even as it increases the likelihood of them dropping away from help and into self harm.

These may just be jokes, but they add to the general noise and social perception of some of the most vulnerable people in our society as the most dangerous.

I find this topic generally quite interesting. Care to give some figures that show mentally ill people are less likely to commit criminal offences then the mentally stable?