I is for Insanely Violent
The human species has a strange relationship with violence. On one level, we glorify it-- we watch others fight for our entertainment, we watch fictional violence with relish, we use violence as a device for solving problems both large and small. On another, we are terrified of being at the receiving end. Perhaps as a result of this split cultural consciousness, we are very quick in both fiction and real life to link violence with mental illness.
Unfortunately, the fictional insistence that all mentally ill people are time bombs waiting to go off has caused serious problems in real life. People with a psychiatric diagnosis are:
10 times more likely to be unemployed in spite of seeking work and holding appropriate qualificationsAre 11 times more likely than the average person to be the victim of a violent crime25% will be harassed or be the target of a hate crimeMore likely to be fatally shot by police even if they don't pose a direct threatCan be legally sterilised against their will in all 50 US states
A lot of these behaviours and policies stem from public perceptions of mental illness which are fueled by media exposure (since many people don't know someone with a psychiatric problem, or don't know they know someone with such an illness, fiction is the only view of mental illness many people get).
So is all this justified to protect everyone else? Let's see:
1) People with serious mental illness commit violent crimes at the same rate as the general population in the area where they live.
2) Only about 5% of violent crimes are committed by people with severe mental illness. (Which is prevalent in about 6% of the population).
I would love to see more protagonists who cope with their mental health problems, but we need a two pronged approach. Yes, good citizens with mental illness need better representation in Fictionland. But authors also need to stop using mental illness as a lazy way to write a violent villain.
Unfortunately, the fictional insistence that all mentally ill people are time bombs waiting to go off has caused serious problems in real life. People with a psychiatric diagnosis are:
10 times more likely to be unemployed in spite of seeking work and holding appropriate qualificationsAre 11 times more likely than the average person to be the victim of a violent crime25% will be harassed or be the target of a hate crimeMore likely to be fatally shot by police even if they don't pose a direct threatCan be legally sterilised against their will in all 50 US states
A lot of these behaviours and policies stem from public perceptions of mental illness which are fueled by media exposure (since many people don't know someone with a psychiatric problem, or don't know they know someone with such an illness, fiction is the only view of mental illness many people get).
So is all this justified to protect everyone else? Let's see:
1) People with serious mental illness commit violent crimes at the same rate as the general population in the area where they live.
2) Only about 5% of violent crimes are committed by people with severe mental illness. (Which is prevalent in about 6% of the population).
I would love to see more protagonists who cope with their mental health problems, but we need a two pronged approach. Yes, good citizens with mental illness need better representation in Fictionland. But authors also need to stop using mental illness as a lazy way to write a violent villain.
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