Yes, in the 1980s, it was presumed by the ignorant public that all crazy people were a danger to themselves or others. It was the era of serial killers, psychopaths and sociopaths.
A serial killer is a specific kind of killing pattern identified by law enforcement investigators (contrast spree killers and rampage killers.) Serial killers are extremely rare, and don’t have a corellation to mental illness or any specific diagnosis. Despite reports in the 70s that asserted (without evidence) serial killers are responsible for 5000 homicides a year in the US (they are not), in fact, you’re more likely to get killed by lightning (less than 50 per year in the US) than by an active serial killer.
A psychopath is a designation by an expert witness in a courtroom, often by a psychiatric professional who has not actually assessed the suspect, but is guessing based on publicly known facts regarding his behavior, the way an armchair psychiatrist might guess that Trump suffers from NPD. In the 1980s, designating a suspect as a psychopath was to suggest he doesn’t need a motive. Psychosis is the category of diagnosis, but isn’t related.
Sociopathy was a personality disorder (Personality disorders are actually, less abnormal than what I have, a psychosis called Major Depression, though their dysfunction can be more evident) Sociopathy was retired in the DSM V, and replaced with antisocial personality disorder. While dangerous APD subjects exist, their rate of violent crime per capita is less than the general population. Though their rate of being victims of violent crime is higher than the general mean. Sociopath is also used as a forensic term to convince juries that a suspect is too dangerous for society.
These days, while we have more awareness of mental illness, there still remain some stereotypes and biases. The public doesn’t want me to have access to guns, for example, on the single basis I have a diagnosis. (It’s a difficult sell, since the US has a lot of veterans with diagnoses and guns, and could not be easily disarmed without creating a big bloody mess. They also go on and off suicide watch, and some counties have a delicate let your friend hold your gun for you program so as to not endanger law enforcement by forcing them to disarm trained soldiers with combat PTSD and justifiable grounds for paranoia)
Then there’s the matter that the institutions in the United States intended to secure inpatients are closely tied to its institutions for securing inmates (for whom we have no love and are glad to leave in squalor). Inpatients get about the same degree of abuse as inmates by their alleged caretakers (violence or sexual assault by orderlies, or abuse of pharmaceuticals by the nurses, who are fond of over-administering tranquilizers to keep the kooks quiet). Our public has about the same empathy for the crazies as they do the convicts, even when the inpatients didn’t necessarily do anything wrong to be denied their civil liberties.
So yeah, the likes of Voorhees and Kruger and Dolarhyde and Lecter have affected sentiments about us lunatics the way Peter Benchley’s Jaws affected attitudes about sharks, the effects of which are seen to this day, say when police routinely gun down subjects of mental health crises (which are disproportionately counted among officer involved homicide.)
Reagan defunding mental health has had a long game of preventing a lot of people from getting the help and meds they need. Unfortunately, the right also think that everyone deserves guns so red flag laws can’t get passed. And there is no perfect solution.
There are various “neurodivergent” personality traits, and since I don’t know you personally, how do we pass a law that both protects you, and protects me. Stigmas mean a bunch of people never get properly diagnosed, and pop psychology misinforms the masses.
Reagan’s legacy prevents my wife’s sister-in-law from being committed against her will. Her suicidal tendencies and attempts to harm my brother-in-law’s finances should be enough, but the state isn’t allowed anymore without physical harm to others.
I don’t worry about getting murdered statistically. Yet everyone is worried about another 9/11 and laws get passed. Columbine, Las Vegas, Charleston, and January 6th are the real harbingers of mental illness not being addressed. Sorry if you don’t fit this pattern. No offense was intended.
Yes, in the 1980s, it was presumed by the ignorant public that all crazy people were a danger to themselves or others. It was the era of serial killers, psychopaths and sociopaths.
A serial killer is a specific kind of killing pattern identified by law enforcement investigators (contrast spree killers and rampage killers.) Serial killers are extremely rare, and don’t have a corellation to mental illness or any specific diagnosis. Despite reports in the 70s that asserted (without evidence) serial killers are responsible for 5000 homicides a year in the US (they are not), in fact, you’re more likely to get killed by lightning (less than 50 per year in the US) than by an active serial killer.
A psychopath is a designation by an expert witness in a courtroom, often by a psychiatric professional who has not actually assessed the suspect, but is guessing based on publicly known facts regarding his behavior, the way an armchair psychiatrist might guess that Trump suffers from NPD. In the 1980s, designating a suspect as a psychopath was to suggest he doesn’t need a motive. Psychosis is the category of diagnosis, but isn’t related.
Sociopathy was a personality disorder (Personality disorders are actually, less abnormal than what I have, a psychosis called Major Depression, though their dysfunction can be more evident) Sociopathy was retired in the DSM V, and replaced with antisocial personality disorder. While dangerous APD subjects exist, their rate of violent crime per capita is less than the general population. Though their rate of being victims of violent crime is higher than the general mean. Sociopath is also used as a forensic term to convince juries that a suspect is too dangerous for society.
These days, while we have more awareness of mental illness, there still remain some stereotypes and biases. The public doesn’t want me to have access to guns, for example, on the single basis I have a diagnosis. (It’s a difficult sell, since the US has a lot of veterans with diagnoses and guns, and could not be easily disarmed without creating a big bloody mess. They also go on and off suicide watch, and some counties have a delicate let your friend hold your gun for you program so as to not endanger law enforcement by forcing them to disarm trained soldiers with combat PTSD and justifiable grounds for paranoia)
Then there’s the matter that the institutions in the United States intended to secure inpatients are closely tied to its institutions for securing inmates (for whom we have no love and are glad to leave in squalor). Inpatients get about the same degree of abuse as inmates by their alleged caretakers (violence or sexual assault by orderlies, or abuse of pharmaceuticals by the nurses, who are fond of over-administering tranquilizers to keep the kooks quiet). Our public has about the same empathy for the crazies as they do the convicts, even when the inpatients didn’t necessarily do anything wrong to be denied their civil liberties.
So yeah, the likes of Voorhees and Kruger and Dolarhyde and Lecter have affected sentiments about us lunatics the way Peter Benchley’s Jaws affected attitudes about sharks, the effects of which are seen to this day, say when police routinely gun down subjects of mental health crises (which are disproportionately counted among officer involved homicide.)
Reagan defunding mental health has had a long game of preventing a lot of people from getting the help and meds they need. Unfortunately, the right also think that everyone deserves guns so red flag laws can’t get passed. And there is no perfect solution. There are various “neurodivergent” personality traits, and since I don’t know you personally, how do we pass a law that both protects you, and protects me. Stigmas mean a bunch of people never get properly diagnosed, and pop psychology misinforms the masses. Reagan’s legacy prevents my wife’s sister-in-law from being committed against her will. Her suicidal tendencies and attempts to harm my brother-in-law’s finances should be enough, but the state isn’t allowed anymore without physical harm to others.
I don’t worry about getting murdered statistically. Yet everyone is worried about another 9/11 and laws get passed. Columbine, Las Vegas, Charleston, and January 6th are the real harbingers of mental illness not being addressed. Sorry if you don’t fit this pattern. No offense was intended.