Citation

Fusar-Poli P, Sunkel C, Larrauri CA, Keri P, McGorry PD, Thornicroft G, Patel V. World Psychiatry 2023; 22(2): 230-231.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, World Psychiatric Association, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/wps.21074

PMID

37159357

PMCID

PMC10168150

Abstract

In November 2022, the Mayor of New York City issued a new directive instructing police to transport homeless persons with apparent severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, to the psychiatric hospital if they appear unable to meet their basic needs, departing from the previous standard that required someone to be a danger to him/herself or others in order to be hospitalized. This directive represents a major setback to decades of efforts by human rights activists and mental health professionals to limit involuntary treatment for schizophrenia through community-based care, social interventions, and peer-supported decision-making.

Unfortunately, this Mayor's policy aligns with the public misperception of people with schizophrenia as being dangerous or violent, reinforced by rancorous and ill-informed media reporting on rare episodes of gun violence and stabbing by persons with psychosis. This public misperception seems to be further validated by recent scientific publications2 which suggest an association between schizophrenia and violence. Here we critically appraise the available evidence in this respect and argue that common interpretations of this evidence are deeply flawed...

Language: en