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Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Violence in People with Mental Disorders

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Violence and Mental Disorders

Part of the book series: Comprehensive Approach to Psychiatry ((CAP,volume 1))

Abstract

Whether mental illness increases the risk of violence has long been a central question in psychiatry, with important implications for health policy, clinical practice, mental health law and public perception of mental illness.

In this chapter, we summarise how advances in epidemiology have improved the understanding of the relationship between mental illness and violence. The current evidence base will be outlined, which is there is an elevated relative risk of violence in most psychiatric disorders compared to the general population. For most disorders, this is small but clinically relevant. However, for some subgroups, particularly with substance use comorbidities, violence risk is further elevated and may also be a target for population-based interventions. Factors within mental illness that increase this risk will be highlighted, with an emphasis on applying such knowledge to clinical practice. Finally, the issue of bridging the gap between epidemiological evidence and individual clinical assessment will be addressed, with reference to the supporting role of risk prediction models and tools. Simple, scalable tools that have been developed and validated using current best practice in prediction modelling, such as OxMIV for the prediction of violence in schizophrenia spectrum and bipolar disorder, represent a step-change in the translation of epidemiological evidence into practice in the field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Daniel Whiting & Seena Fazel

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  1. Daniel Whiting
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  2. Seena Fazel
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Correspondence to Seena Fazel .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Science and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Bernardo Carpiniello

  2. Department of Clinical and Experimental Science, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy

    Antonio Vita

  3. Department of Neuroscience, Luigi Sacco Hospital, Milano, Italy

    Claudio Mencacci

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Whiting, D., Fazel, S. (2020). Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Violence in People with Mental Disorders. In: Carpiniello, B., Vita, A., Mencacci, C. (eds) Violence and Mental Disorders. Comprehensive Approach to Psychiatry, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33188-7_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33188-7_3

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