the homicidal schizophrenic. It is akin to the fear of being hit by
lightning in its absurdity. It might happen but it's pretty unlikely.
I've never know anyone who's been hit by lightning. I've never been hit
by lightning myself. The risk of being killed by a man, a black person
or a partner/spouse are higher than the risk of being killed by a
schizophrenic. In fact the risk of being killed by a doctor is several
times the risk of being killed by a schizophrenic (at least while
doctors continue to use antipsychotics to treat dementia).
No one seems to fear any of those groups though. Why should they? Even
if doctors did kill 1,800 people a year in the UK just by their use of
antipsychotics in the treatment of dementia it doesn't really matter.
Most people are confident that their doctor won't attempt to kill them.
Even after the Harold Shipman incident.
It is the prejudice of schizophrenia and the cultural propaganda that
propagates this insane idea. Sometimes I think all people know about
schizophrenia is the supposed homicide risk. I just want to kill people
like that. (Pun intended. lol. Gotta love inappropriate humour.) The
homicide risk is not the significant risk in schizophrenia compared to
the suicide risks. The suicide risk is very high. If a person ever finds
out someone has schizophrenia it's not this risk they fear. They don't
think the person has a 5-10% of killing themselves (the rate is
something like 10% but some smart professor guys recalculated it down
because of the very high risk during the onset phase which they seemed
to think was smart to remove from their calculations which is where the
"about 5% will kill themselves in their liife" figure comes from).
The people I've met who have schizophrenia are the most important thing.
I've had the luck of people being willing to tell me they have a
diagnosis of schizophrenia. I've only know a small number of people
who've been willing to risk the stigma that comes with self-disclosure.
Every single on of them has not had a single trait that would make me
feel in any way threatened. If anything they've been quite the opposite.
A friend of mine who used to have this diagnosis is one of the kindest,
most compassionate people I know. She used to run a support group for
free and even when she stopped she still took care of many people. This
sort of compassion is what I associate with schizophrenia. Sensitivity.
Empathy. All in a fucked up world where those sort of attributes means
people do less well in life.
Many, many people have delusional internal experiences. Gandhi and
Mother Theresa both spoke to god. I think they're far more typical of a
person with schizophrenia. Had either of them been forced to live in
modern day London they'd both have got a diagnosis of schizophrenia in
my opinion. Thankfully they found their place in life.
I just wish people could know the supposed disorder for what it truly is
rather than this bullshit stereotype. I hope the next time anyone meets
a schizophrenic it won't be the fear of homicide that informs their
reactions. It will be a significant change when people hear that a
person has a diagnosis of schizophrenia and worry about the suicide risk
before anything else.
It is my hope that one day people will hear that a person has a
diagnosis of schizophrenia and make no conclusion about the individual.
I think that the day that happens the day the diagnosis will stop
existing because we will finally live in Utopia and these supposed
illness (or behavioural and emotional disorders as psychiatrists
honestly call them) will no longer exist because society has healed
itself to accept the full spectrum of humankind.
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