Mental Illness is Dangerous

The Stigma, That is — Dangerous to Those Who Suffer from It

“He was crazy.”

The declaration comes surprisingly quickly, and then often. It’s an attempt to explain why the thing that happened did happen.

But it seems that “crazy” has essentially lost its meaning, and if that is the case I am partly to blame. I throw the word around. I use it to describe spiteful people. Or I use it to be funny. I should know better, the way enlightened people don’t use the word “retarded” as an insult anymore, and yet I can’t seem to make myself stop.

“Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops.” That’s a line from a famous play — a comedy. In the movie version of Arsenic and Old Lace, Cary Grant delivers the punchline.

In real life, though, little old women who are mentally ill hardly ever kill people by poisoning them. Those suffering from mental illnesses, even severe ones, are hardly ever violent individuals, period. But for a lot of people, it’s just too unsettling to accept the fact — and it is a fact — that most violence is perpetrated by people who are, technically speaking, perfectly sane.

Why should I care? For one thing, of course, people with mental illnesses are first and foremost human beings. We should all care. It also turns out that in my case, one need not look very far beyond the trunk of the familial tree to see that insanity does in fact gallop in the family. Actual mental illness. The bona fide, diagnosable kind.

The fact that a mental condition gets a diagnosis can sometimes be a red herring all its own, though. Lots of conditions are “diagnosed” — by the world of psychology’s “bible,” the DSM — but that doesn’t necessarily make them mental illnesses. The DSM is not only used to diagnose mental illnesses, but it’s also used to diagnose mental “disorders” in general — and those include even some of your run-of-the mill learning disabilities.

He was mentally ill, people explain. He had Asperger’s.

But they’ve explained nothing. Asperger’s is not a mental illness. Nothing else on the autism spectrum is either. And the autism spectrum disorder we call Asperber’s syndrome does not make people violent either.

You know what other conditions have been listed in the DSM? Dyslexia. Premature ejaculation. Somebody, call the police.

The DSM: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It’s called that because professionals use it to diagnose problems — because people who have problems should be able to get help if they want it. Also because you need a leg to stand on when you’re fighting with your insurance company — or, say, the board of education.

“Statistical”? Statistically speaking, 26.2% of American adults will suffer from an actual, diagnosable mental disorder this year. So chances are, mental disorders gallop in your family, too. Perhaps it is you specifically who gallops.

These are the facts:

Mental disorders are extremely common. Some mental disorders are mental illnesses — but not all of them are. And mental disorders in general simply do not tend to make people violent.

Is everyone entitled to their own opinions? Certainly. Here’s one for you, for instance: It might be advisable for angry, hateful people to stay away from guns. Disagree with me? I’m guessing probably not, regardless of your opinion on gun laws.

Are people entitled to their own facts, though? Fact: Individuals with mental illness almost never pose a threat to society. I should therefore, in fact, probably stop throwing around the word “crazy” as though it isn’t hurtful. I will try.

Fact: individuals suffering from severe mental illnesses are two and a half times more likely to be violently attacked than the general population is. We need to understand that stigma is hatred, and it is hatred that kills. It could even kill someone you love.