Are Psychiatric Patients Really Dangerous?

A national survey found that 75% of respondents believed that people with mental illnesses are dangerous. Dramatic acts by people with serious psychiatric illnesses, such as the Virginia Tech shooter, can reinforce this belief. Using data from a two-wave diagnostic-interview study of 34,653 civilians (interviews conducted 2–4 years apart), researchers examined the possible relation between specific diagnoses (interview-based diagnosis of major depression, bipolar disorder, or substance abuse or dependence [SA/D]; or self-reported schizophrenia), and later violent behavior.

Remarkably, 42% of respondents in the first wave had one or more diagnoses (11% with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression only; 21% with SA/D only; 9% with…