Abstract
There are clearly documented evidence concerning violence by the mentally ill. The violence may be committed on the basis of delusional beliefs or exacerbation of symptomatology. Family members have been the object of violence in more than 50% of the cases.
It is not surprising, therefore, that patients are brought restrained to the psychiatric treatment units. This study was thus conducted to find out whether the perceived aggression by the guardians was the same as the manifest aggression by the patient.
53 consecutive, drug free, psychotic patients attending the C.I.P. O.P.D. for the first time were rated on Social Dysfunction and Aggression Scale (SDAS- 9) to measure quantum of aggression and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) to assess the psychopathology. The patients were diagnosed using the criteria laid down in ICD X.
BPRS score was significantly higher in schizophrenics as compared to other diagnoses (one way ANOVA, p=0.005). Although there was no difference in the aggression scores in different diagnostic categories, manics were significantly more likely to be restrained (Χ2 test, p=0.04).
Keywords: Aggression, restrain, violence, mental illness, psychosis
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (215.4 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bartels S. J., Drake R. E., Wallach M. A., Freeman D. H. Characteristic hostility in schizophrenic outpatients. Schizophr Bull. 1991;17(1):163–171. doi: 10.1093/schbul/17.1.163. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Carlson G. A., Goodwin F. K. The stages of mania. A longitudinal analysis of the manic episode. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1973 Feb;28(2):221–228. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1973.01750320053009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Craig T. J. An epidemiologic study of problems associated with violence among psychiatric inpatients. Am J Psychiatry. 1982 Oct;139(10):1262–1266. doi: 10.1176/ajp.139.10.1262. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fottrell E. A study of violent behaviour among patients in psychiatric hospitals. Br J Psychiatry. 1980 Mar;136:216–221. doi: 10.1192/bjp.136.3.216. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Khess C. R., Das J., Akhtar S. Four year follow-up of first episode manic patients. Indian J Psychiatry. 1997 Apr;39(2):160–165. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Macdonald J. M. Homicidal threats. Am J Psychiatry. 1967 Oct;124(4):475–482. doi: 10.1176/ajp.124.4.475. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Monahan J. Mental disorder and violent behavior. Perceptions and evidence. Am Psychol. 1992 Apr;47(4):511–521. doi: 10.1037//0003-066x.47.4.511. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mulvey E. P., Blumstein A., Cohen J. Reframing the research question of mental patient criminality. Int J Law Psychiatry. 1986;9(1):57–65. doi: 10.1016/0160-2527(86)90016-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- RAPPEPORT J. R., LASSEN G. DANGEROUSNESS--ARREST RATE COMPARISONS OF DISCHARGED PATIENTS AND THE GENERAL POPULATION. Am J Psychiatry. 1965 Feb;121:776–783. doi: 10.1176/ajp.121.8.776. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rabkin J. G. Criminal behavior of discharged mental patients: a critical apprasial of the research. Psychol Bull. 1979 Jan;86(1):1–27. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Shader R. I., Jackson A. H., Harmatz J. S., Appelbaum P. S. Patterns of violent behavior among schizophrenic inpatients. Dis Nerv Syst. 1977 Jan;38(1):13–16. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Straznickas K. A., McNiel D. E., Binder R. L. Violence toward family caregivers by mentally ill relatives. Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1993 Apr;44(4):385–387. doi: 10.1176/ps.44.4.385. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tardiff K., Sweillam A. Assault, suicide, and mental illness. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1980 Feb;37(2):164–169. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1980.01780150054005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tuason V. B. The psychiatrist and the violent patient. Dis Nerv Syst. 1971 Nov;32(11):764–768. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wistedt B., Rasmussen A., Pedersen L., Malm U., Träskman-Bendz L., Wakelin J., Bech P. The development of an observer-scale for measuring social dysfunction and aggression. Pharmacopsychiatry. 1990 Nov;23(6):249–252. doi: 10.1055/s-2007-1014514. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Yudofsky S. C., Silver J. M., Jackson W., Endicott J., Williams D. The Overt Aggression Scale for the objective rating of verbal and physical aggression. Am J Psychiatry. 1986 Jan;143(1):35–39. doi: 10.1176/ajp.143.1.35. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Zitrin A., Hardesty A. S., Burdock E. I., Drossman A. K. Crime and violence among mental patients. Am J Psychiatry. 1976 Feb;133(2):142–149. doi: 10.1176/ajp.133.2.142. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]