Psychiatric Illnesses and Other Multiple Risk Factors Linked to Future Violence

People suffering from depression may be more prone to commit violent acts in the future depending on the risk factors says a new research. Recently, the news about the German co-pilot suspected to be behind the deadly plane crash in the French Alps last month, killing himself along with the 149 people on board, was apparently suffering from depression has prompted many to speculate that most psychiatric disorders could lead to violent behavior.

The study used data from youth who were detained at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago between 1995 and 1998. Violence and psychiatric disorders were assessed via self-report in 1,659 youth aged 13 to 25 years. Reports showed that males with mania were more than twice as likely to report current violence than those without. But these relationships are not necessarily casual, the researchers noted.

"Our findings are relevant to the recent tragic plane crash in the French Alps. Our findings show that no one could have predicted that the pilot -- who apparently suffered from depression -- would perpetrate this violent act," said corresponding author Prof. Linda Teplin, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, USA.

"It is not merely a suicide, but an act of mass homicide," Teplin noted. Delinquent youth with psychiatric illness have multiple risk factors such as living in violent and impoverished neighbourhoods, the study emphasised.

"We must improve how we address multiple problems including violent behavior as part of psychiatric treatment," study first author Katherine Elkington, Assistant professor of clinical psychology in psychiatry at Columbia University Medical School, pointed out.

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Source-Medindia