Seena Fazel; Gautam Gulati; Louise Linsell; John R. Geddes; Martin Grann

“ Schizophrenia is a lifelong, severe psychotic condition. One in 100 people will have at least one episode of schizophrenia during their lifetime. Symptoms include delusions (for example, patients believe that someone is plotting against them) and hallucinations (hearing or seeing things that are not there) . In men, schizophrenia usually starts in the late teens or early 20s; women tend to develop schizophrenia a little later. The causes of schizophrenia include genetic predisposition, obstetric complications, illegal drug use (substance abuse) , and experiencing traumatic life events. ”

“ We found higher risk estimates in the female-only and mixed gender studies compared with the general population, although these estimates were not significantly higher than male-only estimates using random-effects models. The higher risk estimates in women may be a consequence of the lower prevalence of drug and alcohol use in the general female population compared with the general male population, and so violence associated with other causes, including schizophrenia, would be overrepresented in the women [23] . ”

“ Some people believe that schizophrenia and other psychoses are associated with violence, a perception that is often reinforced by news reports and that contributes to the stigma associated with mental illness. ”

“ Finally, although people with schizophrenia were nearly 20 times more likely to have committed murder than people in the general population, only one in 300 people with schizophrenia had killed someone, a similar risk to that seen in people with substance abuse. ”

“ Whether future work needs to rely on resource-intensive ways of gathering outcome data such as self-report measures or interviewing informants is questioned by this review, although prevalence rates will be higher when such approaches are used. In addition, health services research could further examine the role of different service configurations in reducing violence outcomes in these patients. ”

“ The condition can be treated with a combination of antipsychotic drugs and supportive therapy; hospitalization may be necessary in very serious cases to prevent self harm. Many people with schizophrenia improve sufficiently after treatment to lead satisfying lives although some patients need lifelong support and supervision. ”

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