Abstract
This paper explores the question of dangerousness and the mentally ill. Research for this paper was stimulated by the death by homicide of two psychiatrists in Oregon in 1985. The paper reviews three distinct areas in the psychiatric literature: the arrests of mental patients, assaults against psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, and assaultive behaviors exhibited by patients in hospitals and other psychiatric settings. The author concludes that the risks are real but are dependent, for the most part, on setting and the acuteness of illness. Realism in regard to risk is critical for the mentally ill, their families, professional caregivers, and society in general.
Footnotes
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Address reprint requests to: Dr. Bloom, Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health Sciences University, 3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Rd., Portland, OR 97201.
- Copyright © 1989, The American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
