“With this stigma, is it any wonder that one in four Australians believe that people with depression are a danger to others?”
Following the tragic shooting of American reporter Alison Parker and camera operator Adam Ward live on air last week, speculation has been rife over what could have been going on inside the shooter’s head.
He was:
Sick.
Mental.
Disturbed.
Deranged.
Mad.
Crazy.
Psycho.
Depressed?
Last night on The Weekly, Charlie Pickering addressed some of the rhetoric that it too often dispensed to describe the perpetrators of random acts of violence.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve seen commentators immediately try to explain a tragedy they don’t understand by playing ‘Guess the Mental Illness’,” Pickering said.
“If you watch some news coverage you’d be forgiven for thinking that there’s a straight line between depression and violence but there isn’t.
“In fact the closest most depressed people get to violence is murdering a four litre tub of death by chocolate ice cream in one sitting.”
Pickering also pointed to a worrying statistic, which says that one in four Australians believe that people with depression are a danger to others.
Given that 350 million globally suffer from depression, this is blatantly absurd.
“The world is threatening enough without inventing things to be scared of,” Pickering said.
“If depression turns people into killers, we’d all be dead.”
Watch the full segment below:
Top Comments
Most violent offenders have undiagnosed Anti-Social Personality Disorder (psychopathy). A lack of emotions and empathy for victims, and they have a constant need to have power and control over others by either psychological means (gaslighting) or by violent assault. They are usually cunning and highly manipulative. Classic examples can be seen in the Family Courts everyday, where they seek to retain control over former partners and children who have rejected them. They find it easy to manipulate lawyers and judges and take immense pleasure when doing so.
Such psychopaths can be diagnosed by psychiatric assessment and there are more recent advances where the condition can be diagnosed by Brain MRI Scan. Such a diagnosis should be ordered on anyone who uses violence against another person in whatever context.
I don't think depressed people or even schizophrenic people are a danger to anyone mote then themselves. But otherwise non-violent people can be violent if they are psychotic. My brother hospitalised my mum twice in a state of psychosis as he was convinced she was doing things to him after reading his thoughts. He was in court twice last year for dong violent things while off his medication. He finally has stable assisted care and on his medication I feel safe with him.
I think the violent response to imaginary threats is more a reflection of how he would behave in a real threatening situation though - other people with a calmer nature would also respond how they would In Real life - hide away, cry etc.
I do think mental illness is an obvious trigger for this type of behaviour and for people with violent tendencies it can be a recipe for disaster.