Study Takes Closer Look at Violence Targeting People With Psychiatric Disorders

Astudy appearing today inJAMA Psychiatry found that fewer than 7% of patients with psychiatric disorders in Sweden had either been subjected to violence severe enough to require specialist medical treatment or had perpetrated violence.Amir Sariaslan, Ph.D., of the University of Oxford and colleagues identified 250,419 individuals from Sweden ’s National Patient Register who were born between 1973 and 1993 and had been diagnosed psychiatric disorders. Psychiatric disorders included anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, alcohol use disorder, and drug use disorder. The patients were matche d by age and sex to individuals in the general population (n = 2,504,190) and to their full biological siblings who did not have psychiatric disorders (n = 194,788).The researchers tracked whether these patients were subjected to violence (defined as an outpatient visit, inpatient episode, or death associated with an injury purposefully inflicted by other persons) or perpetuated violence (defined as a violent crime conviction) until they migrated, died, or reached the end of the study period on December 31, 2013. Data on convictions were pulled from Sweden ’s National Crime Register.Compared with the general population, patients with psychiatric disorders were more likely to be subjected to violence and to perpetrate violence, the authors found. Patients with psychiatric disorders were three to four times more likely than their sibli...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Amir Sariaslan anxiety bipolar disorder depression JAMA Psychiatry Paul Appelbaum personality disorders schizophrenia substance use disorder violence Source Type: research