whenever i talk about this stuff somebody will show up to say "but what about THIS case of a psychotic person committing violence?" so here are some important things to keep in mind: 1) of course some people in psychosis will commit violence. SOME people in general will always commit violence - ThreadSky

keezyyoung.bsky.social • 8 days ago

whenever i talk about this stuff somebody will show up to say "but what about THIS case of a psychotic person committing violence?" so here are some important things to keep in mind:

1) of course some people in psychosis will commit violence. SOME people in general will always commit violence

Reposted from Keezy Young🌼ECCC O-02

like not to be "what about me" about it but I have yet to see a single article mention that antipsychotics and mood stabilizers are ALSO life saving. everyone's scared FOR people with depression/ADHD, but when they do bother to acknowledge people with bipolar/schizophrenia, they're scared OF us

Comments

edendeleon-art.bsky.social•7 days ago

I was prescribed an antipsychotic after being hospitalized. It helped me with sleep for the most part. I don't have bipolar or schizophrenia as far as I'm aware, but I can imagine how it would be absolutely lifesaving for those who are.

Sanists must understand antipsychotics aren't about-

edendeleon-art.bsky.social•7 days ago

-"suppressing (imagined) violent or homicidal tendencies". They're like other type of medication; they help you make aspects of your life easier to get by. And just like any other med, you should be careful.

My meds have prevented me from hurting myself and be able to live a calm life.-

edendeleon-art.bsky.social•7 days ago

And isn't that what most mad/mentally ill folks want? To live a calm life where we aren't tormented 24/7 by our minds?

A lot of us isolate because we think our mere existence hurts others, and we don't wanna do that. Imagine constantly being told "yes, you are a potential danger" constantly-

edendeleon-art.bsky.social•7 days ago

What would that do? It worsens our quality of life.

EVERYBODY deserves help and community. Yes, even those who have hurt others. What many people don't understand is that providing help and community isn't exonerating from accountability. We are envisioning anti-carceral ways of justice-

edendeleon-art.bsky.social•7 days ago

healing and amending.

If you think we should abandon people with schizophrenia, bipolar, cluster-b personality disorders or any perceived disorder that (you think) makes someone "dangerous", you're a horrible person. Congratulations, you're enforcing the status quo and helping the system!

edendeleon-art.bsky.social•7 days ago

Dear sanists, stop moralizing mental disorders! Stop denying us the help we need! Stop imposing higher standards of conduct and humanity upon us, so you can decide who is a "good" mad person and who is "bad"! You're actively making our lives worse! Hope this helps!

thedoctorwho.bsky.social•8 days ago

Jesus. Talk about confirmation bias. "What about this one case that supports my beliefs?"

Yeah? What about all the others that don't?

tyriavtuber.bsky.social•7 days ago

I hate it so much, we are far more likely to be to be a danger to ourselves than to people around us. And the stigma only makes it so much more isolating

keezyyoung.bsky.social•8 days ago

2) most violence committed by people in psychosis can be much better explained by other factors, particularly substance use, comorbid personality disorders*, poverty, espousing hateful ideologies, etc.

Here's a really good and thorough breakdown of this phenomenon: https://www.nami.org/namis-ask-the-expert/nami-ask-the-expert-an-evidence-based-conversation-on-violence-and-mental-illness/

keezyyoung.bsky.social•8 days ago

*This is NOT to say that all people with personality disorders are violent, either, obviously. antisocial personality disorder in particular does seem to be correlated with violence, though (in part because it's part of the diagnostic criteria for it). here's a pretty thorough breakdown of this:

bigbadwolfgirl.me•7 days ago

i have bpd & was put on a list of “cluster bs and their enablers” here for having it like some kind of abuser despite having it bc I’m a childhood torture & conversion therapy survivor.

People are cruel & uncaring about why you’re sick if they can use it to forgive themselves for cruelty to others.

keezyyoung.bsky.social•8 days ago

3) substance use and addiction issues are, however, strongly correlated with violence, and undeniably also VERY common in populations with severe mental illness, who tend to use them as a coping mechanism. that's a reality we do have to contend with

keezyyoung.bsky.social•8 days ago

4) as with all mental illnesses, people with psychotic disorders are far, FAR more likely to be the victim of violence than the perpetrator

keezyyoung.bsky.social•8 days ago

5) people with psychosis are also far, FAR more likely to harm themselves than to harm others. 10-13% of people with schizophrenia die of suicide, and 20% of people with bipolar die of suicide. psychotic symptoms in depression double the risk of suicide compared to non-psychotic severe depression

keezyyoung.bsky.social•8 days ago

6) compared to the decreasing stigma in other mental illnesses, stigma against psychosis has increased in the last 30 years, possibly in part due to the way the news obsessively covers violent acts committed by people with psychosis (and attributes violent acts to psychosis without evidence)

melodywisp.bsky.social•8 days ago

im on two antipsychotics for my otherwise treatment-resistant depression, and im genuinely worried about time reversing for me in regards to my depressive symptoms... 😮‍💨 what a nightmare this all is

nparmalee.bsky.social•7 days ago

Thanks for this excellent thread. My son has schizophrenia & he has never harmed anyone, has been the victim of assault multiple times

Also my antidepressant is an antipsychotic. In addition to the cruelty of taking meds from people with bipolar and schizophrenia, antipsychotics are antidepressants

keezyyoung.bsky.social•7 days ago

yeah absolutely, there are other reasons to take an antipsychotic for sure! i mostly don't touch on them too much because of space limitations haha ("bipolar and schizophrenia" is already so many characters 😭)

nparmalee.bsky.social•7 days ago

Totally. You do an excellent job communicating your own experience and expertise and I appreciate it!

keezyyoung.bsky.social•7 days ago

💛!

benjaminlistwon.bsky.social•8 days ago

Wow! You absolutely shouldn’t have to churn out as much of an evidence-backed thread as this to just have other posts accepted.

But I, for one, and I suspect plenty of other folks, definitely appreciate it for all the link outs and learning it provides 🙏

benjaminlistwon.bsky.social•8 days ago

Another frustrating thing this really highlights is how reductive to A vs B much (all?) of our public discourse has become. There are people in between ends of a spectrum in all aspects of life, and by and large we instead try to put everyone in big, collective boxes.

benjaminlistwon.bsky.social•8 days ago

This is true for mental health, physical disabilities, gun ownership, books that people read, identity, you name it, and it is incredibly frustrating to me when people swoop into a discipline they may or may not be familiar with, with a “what about” opinion that singles out something at the extreme.

benjaminlistwon.bsky.social•8 days ago

Maybe I’m too much of an optimist/naive, but I wish we could all take more time to discuss, learn, understand each other, and acknowledge that one lived experience does not make anyone an expert on all lived experiences.

benjaminlistwon.bsky.social•8 days ago

Not sure I have a destination for this thought ramble, lol, but a sincere thanks, again, for being thoughtful and thorough in a very public way (realizing that you don’t need to, and what a gift it is that you do!)

shadedmoon.bsky.social•7 days ago

📌

locirodraws.bsky.social•6 days ago

thank you for speaking up on this. I didn't have a great relationship with my grandpa, but he suffered from psychosis. he was never a danger to anyone, or even himself. but he was MISERABLE during those episodes. and no one deserves that level of misery.

emcaco.bsky.social•7 days ago

There's also a lot to unpack in how violence/crime can get people access to the institutional support they never would have gotten as a struggling free person. Someone quietly suffering under the radar or only getting arrested occasionally for petty theft won't get a psychiatrist

emcaco.bsky.social•7 days ago

Even if you only look at anecdotal true crime sensational stories, how many of those gloss over "oh now after a lifetime of flags that even as a child they clearly needed help, they finally get diagnosis/therapy/meds while imprisoned" but it's usually seen as a defense ploy

emcaco.bsky.social•7 days ago

It's a bizarre, awful reality that many people in the US have no access to mental health resources, and it would literally take getting arrested for murder for them to finally get those resources. Of course that will skew numbers around mental illness and crime. Poverty wrecks any chance to be seen

keezyyoung.bsky.social•7 days ago

yep, a lot of people only get hospitalized and diagnosed for the first time when they attempt suicide or commit a crime, because we can't hospitalize someone (and i'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing) unless they're a danger to themselves or others!

emcaco.bsky.social•7 days ago

Oh yeah. And that line of self harm is itself a weird one to navigate as a family member trying to help someone. It really doesn't help when normal appointments are weeks or months out.

emcaco.bsky.social•7 days ago

Public defenders are basically a public mental health screener by default because there are so many gaps for people to fall through. It's a wild failing in our society.

emcaco.bsky.social•7 days ago

I'm sorry that the stigma puts you in a position to have to educate people when true crime lit and documentaries could easily hilight this problem but instead choose to use it as their creepy horror spice.

mixtapereservoir.bsky.social•8 days ago

I think they want to pull people off these meds so it increases the chances of people acting out. Then they will use this as justification for martial law, which is the end goal of this administration.

kroganairdrop.bsky.social•6 days ago

Outstanding writeup, Keezy. Nicely done ✌️

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