Worries about violence and mental illness have affected public attitudes and influenced treatment options around the world. Researchers in Canada, Finland, Australia and the Netherlands looked at "stranger homicide" as a way to answer the question about whether psychosis threatens strangers. They conclude this is rare. Yet, say the authors, these events "generate adverse publicity for mental health services and have resulted in significant changes in mental health policy and law." The authors state that "risk assessment of patients known to have a psychotic illness will be of little assistance in the prevention of stranger homicides."
The study appears online in Schizophrenia Bulletin Advance Access.
