Among the most dramatic and menacing forms of mental illness are the psychotic disorders. These include people who have uncontrolled paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression with psychotic features, substance intoxication, and perhaps intermittent explosive disorder. Violence is not associated with mental illness per se. There are factors that increase violent behavior among those who are mentally ill including persecutory ideation like suspiciousness and fear, and co-occurring alcohol dependence. The most important way in which to reduce violence among citizens who are mentally ill is to provide some form of treatment to them. Those who go without substantive treatment including psychotherapy are at greatest risk for becoming aggressive or violent according to Coid et al. (2016). These are the citizens who fly above the radar and are seen pacing the street corners in cities everywhere reciting from some unwritten preamble. People walking avoid eye contact further pushing them to the margins of civility. Eventually, the bottom falls out and the preamble comes to an incoherent end. Either they move on or they are picked up for evaluation.
There are even greater numbers of psychotic people living under the radar. Making their way in society, flying by the seat of their pants. These people are often cared for by family members including elderly parents. When they relapse or “go off the rails”, caregivers often need the help of police to gain compliance with their loved ones. Sometimes the police are called to restore the peace and compel the emotionally disturbed person into treatment. For those individuals who relapse and are substance dependent i.e. alcoholic, the risk for violence is elevated. These people require special understanding and sensitivity in order to establish a trust and to help them see their behavior patterns and risk taking behavior for themselves. No easy task.
More recently, meta-analyses and case register studies concluded that psychiatric disorders are associated with violence, but that the relationship is largely or entirely explained by comorbid substance misuse. Fazel et al. (2009)
WESTBOROUGH, MA APRIL 8, 2018 Restraining orders in cases of domestic violence have been around for decades or longer. At times people require formal court orders of protection from those who might bring forth violence to loved ones. I have personally written over 50 requests for protection of a victim of domestic violence. Most of these are temporary order issued by an on-call judge who listens to police officer statements over the telephone. They are usually granted and valid through the next court day – generally within 48 hours. The problem is that after the 48 hours is up the conflict between intimate partners has been long forgotten resulting in a waste of police resources and an irritated district court judge. Obviously this is not always the outcome.
MSefton's Human Behavior Blog 