Psychotic symptoms in mass shootings v. mass murders not involving firearms: findings from the Columbia mass murder database

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Gary Brucato ◽  
Paul S. Appelbaum ◽  
Hannah Hesson ◽  
Eileen A. Shea ◽  
Gabriella Dishy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Legal History ◽  
Alcohol Misuse ◽  
Mass Murder ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Fully Automatic ◽  
Mass Murders

Abstract Background Mass shootings account for a small fraction of annual worldwide murders, yet disproportionately affect society and influence policy. Evidence suggesting a link between mass shootings and severe mental illness (i.e. involving psychosis) is often misrepresented, generating stigma. Thus, the actual prevalence constitutes a key public health concern. Methods We examined global personal-cause mass murders from 1900 to 2019, amassed by review of 14 785 murders publicly described in English in print or online, and collected information regarding perpetrator, demographics, legal history, drug use and alcohol misuse, and history of symptoms of psychiatric or neurologic illness using standardized methods. We distinguished whether firearms were or were not used, and, if so, the type (non-automatic v. semi- or fully-automatic). Results We identified 1315 mass murders, 65% of which involved firearms. Lifetime psychotic symptoms were noted among 11% of perpetrators, consistent with previous reports, including 18% of mass murderers who did not use firearms and 8% of those who did (χ2 = 28.0, p < 0.01). US-based mass shooters were more likely to have legal histories, use recreational drugs or misuse alcohol, or have histories of non-psychotic psychiatric or neurologic symptoms. US-based mass shooters with symptoms of any psychiatric or neurologic illness more frequently used semi-or fully-automatic firearms. Conclusions These results suggest that policies aimed at preventing mass shootings by focusing on serious mental illness, characterized by psychotic symptoms, may have limited impact. Policies such as those targeting firearm access, recreational drug use and alcohol misuse, legal history, and non-psychotic psychopathology might yield more substantial results.

Muslim mass shooters are perceived as less mentally ill and more motivated by religion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett Gregory Mercier ◽  
Azim Shariff ◽  
Adam Norris
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
News Article ◽  
Mass Shootings ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Extremist Groups

Objective: We test whether prejudice can influence lay attributions of mental illness to perpetrators of violence. Specifically, we examine whether people with negative attitudes towards Muslims perceive Muslim mass shooters as less mentally ill than non-Muslim shooters. Method: Study 1 compares attributions of mental illness to Muslim and non-Muslim perpetrators of recent mass shootings. Studies 2 and 3 experimentally test whether a mass shooter described in a news article is seen as less mentally ill when described as being a Muslim, compared to when described as a Christian (Study 2) and to when religion is not mentioned (Study 3). Study 4 tests whether a Muslim shooter is seen as less mentally ill than a Christian shooter, even when both shooters have symptoms of mental illness. Results: In all studies, Muslim shooters were seen as less mentally ill than non-Muslim shooters, but only by those with negative views towards Muslims. Conclusion: Those with anti-Muslim prejudices perceive Muslim mass shooters as less mentally ill, likely to maintain culpability and fit narratives about terrorism. This may reinforce anti-Muslim attitudes by leading those with anti-Muslim prejudice to overestimate the amount of violence inspired by groups like ISIS relative to extremist groups from other ideologies.

scholarly journals Spirituality and Employment in Recovery from Severe and Persistent Mental Illness and Psychological Well-Being

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Jesús Saiz ◽  
María Galilea ◽  
Antonio J. Molina ◽  
María Salazar ◽  
Tiffany J. Barsotti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Work Motivation ◽  
Psychiatric Treatment ◽  
Predictor Variable ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Job Skills ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
Persistent Mental Illness

People diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) face multiple vulnerabilities, including when seeking employment. Among SPMI patients, studies show that a stronger sense of spirituality can help to reduce psychotic symptoms, increase social integration, reduce the risk of suicide attempts and promote adherence to psychiatric treatment. This study examined how the variables spirituality and employment affect the recovery process and psychological well-being of people with SPMI who attend employment recovery services. The sample consisted of 64 women and men diagnosed with an SPMI. The assessment instruments included the Recovery Assessment Scale, Ryff Psychological Well-Being Scale, Work Motivation Questionnaire, Daily Spiritual Experience Scale, and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy—Spiritual Well-Being (FACIT-Sp12). Hierarchical regression analyses were performed to compare three different models for each dependent variable (recovery and psychological well-being). The findings showed that job skills predicted psychological well-being and recovery. When spiritual variables were included in the model, job skills dropped out and the dimension meaning/peace of the FACIT-Sp12 emerged as the only significant predictor variable. Integrating spirituality into recovery programs for people with SPMI may be a helpful complement to facilitate the recovery process and improve psychological well-being.

A Clinical Study of Violence in Patients Referred on a Form I to a General Hospital Psychiatric Unit

1988 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 711-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.J. Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Clinical Study ◽  
Hospital Stay ◽  
General Hospital ◽  
Alcohol Misuse ◽  
Psychiatric Ward ◽  
Violent Behaviour ◽  
Initial Management ◽  
Retrospective Examination

A retrospective examination of all patients referred by the emergency department of a medium sized general hospital for a mandated Form I psychiatric assessment during a 12 month period was conducted. The principal aim was an analysis of the clinical phenomena and especially the antecedents and course of violent behaviour (following admission and throughout the hospital stay) which in the majority of cases was the reason for the referral. Thirty percent had behaved violently prior to admission but within 24 hours all had settled and during the remainder of their hospital stay were indistinguishable from the generality of the ward population (for example, non-violent). Two-thirds of the patients were non-psychotic; that is, not suffering from a major mental illness; nevertheless, they required a disproportionate amount of time and effort in initial management. A high proportion had several prior admissions to the psychiatric ward, particularly for alcohol misuse and/or a personality disorder.

scholarly journals What makes the psychosis ‘clinical high risk’ state risky: psychosis itself or the co-presence of a non-psychotic disorder?

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laila Hasmi ◽  
Lotta-Katrin Pries ◽  
Margreet ten Have ◽  
Ron de Graaf ◽  
Saskia van Dorsselaer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Psychotic Disorder ◽  
Positive Family History ◽  
Mental Health Service Use ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Polygenic Risk Score ◽  
Clinical High Risk ◽  
Drug Use Disorders ◽  
Per Se

Abstract Aims Although attenuated psychotic symptoms in the psychosis clinical high-risk state (CHR-P) almost always occur in the context of a non-psychotic disorder (NPD), NPD is considered an undesired ‘comorbidity’ epiphenomenon rather than an integral part of CHR-P itself. Prospective work, however, indicates that much more of the clinical psychosis incidence is attributable to prior mood and drug use disorders than to psychosis clinical high-risk states per se. In order to examine this conundrum, we analysed to what degree the ‘risk’ in CHR-P is indexed by co-present NPD rather than attenuated psychosis per se. Methods We examined the incidence of early psychotic experiences (PE) with and without NPD (mood disorders, anxiety disorders, alcohol/drug use disorders), in a prospective general population cohort (n = 6123 at risk of incident PE at baseline). Four interview waves were conducted between 2007 and 2018 (NEMESIS-2). The incidence of PE, alone (PE-only) or with NPD (PE + NPD) was calculated, as were differential associations with schizophrenia polygenic risk score (PRS-Sz), environmental, demographical, clinical and cognitive factors. Results The incidence of PE + NPD (0.37%) was lower than the incidence of PE-only (1.04%), representing around a third of the total yearly incidence of PE. Incident PE + NPD was, in comparison with PE-only, differentially characterised by poor functioning, environmental risks, PRS-Sz, positive family history, prescription of antipsychotic medication and (mental) health service use. Conclusions The risk in ‘clinical high risk’ states is mediated not by attenuated psychosis per se but specifically the combination of attenuated psychosis and NPD. CHR-P/APS research should be reconceptualised from a focus on attenuated psychotic symptoms with exclusion of non-psychotic DSM-disorders, as the ‘pure' representation of a supposedly homotypic psychosis risk state, towards a focus on poor-outcome NPDs, characterised by a degree of psychosis admixture, on the pathway to psychotic disorder outcomes.

William Henry Jackson (1861-1952): Riel's Secretary

1978 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 469-477
Author(s):  
Cyril Greenland ◽  
John D. Griffin
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Legal History ◽  
Bellevue Hospital

Although there have been many studies of the trial of Louis Riel, following the 1885 rebellion, much less attention has been paid to the fate of his secretary William Henry Jackson, who was charged with “treason-felony” and found not guilty, reason of insanity. In an effort to throw some new light on this neglected aspect of medico-legal history, this paper describes the intense political and religious relationship between Riel and his secretary which culminated in the onset of Jackson's mental illness. After a trial lasting less than half an hour, Jackson was committed to the “Selkirk Asylum” under a warrant of the then Lieutenant-Governor. Two weeks before Riel was executed, Jackson escaped from hospital and made his way into the U.S.A. No attempt was made to capture him. Jackson, having changed his name to Honoré Jaxon, became a labour organizer. He died in the psychopathic ward of Bellevue Hospital in New York on 10th January, 1952 at the age of ninety.

scholarly journals The influence of maternal mental illness on vaccination uptake in children: a UK population-based cohort study

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 879-889
Author(s):  
Cemre Su Osam ◽  
Matthias Pierce ◽  
Holly Hope ◽  
Darren M. Ashcroft ◽  
Kathryn M. Abel
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Substance Misuse ◽  
Childhood Vaccination ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Practice Research ◽  
Clinical Practice Research Datalink ◽  
Vaccination Uptake ◽  
Maternal Alcohol ◽  
Maternal Mental Illness

Abstract Reduced vaccination uptake is a growing and global public health concern. There is limited knowledge about the effect of maternal mental illness (MMI) on rates of childhood vaccination. This retrospective cohort study examined 479,949 mother-baby pairs born between 1993 and 2015 in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD GOLD), a UK-based, primary health-care database. The influence of MMI on children’s vaccination status at two and five years of age was investigated using logistic regression adjusting for sex of the child, child ethnicity, delivery year, maternal age, practice level deprivation quintile and region. The vaccinations were: 5-in-1 (DTaP/IPV/Hib) and first dose MMR by the age of two; and all three doses of 5-in-1, first and second dose of MMR vaccines by the age of five. Exposure to MMI was defined using recorded clinical events for: depression, anxiety, psychosis, eating disorder, personality disorder and alcohol and substance misuse disorders. The likelihood that a child completed their recommended vaccinations by the age of two and five was significantly lower among children with MMI compared to children with mothers without mental illness [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.86, 95% CI 0.84–0.88, p < 0.001]. The strongest effect was observed for children exposed to maternal alcohol or substance misuse (at two years aOR 0.50, 95% CI 0.44–0.58, p < 0.001). In the UK, an estimated five thousand more children per year would be vaccinated if children with MMI had the same vaccination rates as children with well mothers. Maternal mental illness is a hitherto largely unrecognised reason that children may be missing vital vaccinations at two and five years of age. This risk is highest for those children living with maternal alcohol or substance misuse.

scholarly journals A Cascade of Care for Alcohol Use Disorder: Using 2015-2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Data to Identify Gaps in Care

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie M. Mintz ◽  
Sarah M. Hartz ◽  
Sherri L. Fisher ◽  
Alex T. Ramsey ◽  
Elvin H. Geng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Brief Intervention ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Alcohol Misuse ◽  
Health Data ◽  
Health Care Settings ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cascade Of Care

ABSTRACTBackgroundAlthough effective treatments exist, alcohol use disorder (AUD) is undertreated. We used a cascade of care framework to understand gaps in care between diagnosis and treatment for persons with AUD.MethodsUsing 2015-2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health data, we evaluated the following steps in the cascade of care: 1) prevalence of adults with AUD; 2) proportion of adults who utilized health care in the past 12 months; 3) were screened about alcohol use; 4) received a brief intervention about alcohol misuse; 5) received information about treatment for alcohol misuse; and 6) proportion of persons with AUD who received treatment. Analyses were stratified by AUD severity.ResultsOf the 171,766 persons included in the sample, weighted prevalence of AUD was 7.9% (95% CI 7.7-8.0%). Persons with AUD utilized health care settings at similar rates as those without AUD. Cascades of care showed the majority of individuals with AUD utilized health care and were screened about alcohol use, but the percent who received the subsequent steps of care decreased substantially. For those with severe AUD, 83.5% (CI: 78.3%-88.7%) utilized health care in the past 12 months, 73.5% (CI: 68.1%-78.9%) were screened for alcohol use, 22.7% (CI: 19.4%-26.0%) received a brief intervention, 12.4% (CI: 10%-14.7%) received information about treatment, and 20.5% (CI: 18%-23.1%) were treated for AUD. The greatest decrease in the care continuum occurred from screening to brief intervention and referral to treatment. More persons with severe AUD received treatment than were referred, indicating other pathways to treatment outside of the healthcare system.ConclusionsPersons with AUD utilize health care at high rates and are frequently screened about alcohol use, but few receive treatment. Health care settings-particularly primary care settings-represent a prime opportunity to implement pharmacologic treatment for AUD to improve outcomes in this high-risk population.

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