Stop Blaming Mental Illness for Sin

With all of the recent violence in the streets of America, people are talking about mental health more than ever. While I am extremely grateful that people are talking and that (hopefully) agencies will focus more funding toward mental health, I feel compelled to share that the vast majority of people with a diagnosable mental illness are NOT violent. “Most people with mental illness are not violent and only 3%–5% of violent acts can be attributed to individuals living with a serious mental illness. In fact, people with severe mental illnesses are over 10 times more likely to be victims of violent crime than the general population” (www.mentalhealth.gov).

When tragedy strikes people rush to place blame. We want to understand. The sad reality is that much of the time evil is to blame. We live in a society that avoids terms like vile, evil and sinful but this is more often to blame than mental illness.

I fear that by blaming the mentally ill for violent crimes, we are contributing to their stigmatization. Most of us know someone with a mental illness if we don’t suffer from one ourselves. There is rarely a need to be afraid; instead we should respond with compassion and love.

So, the next time you hear someone quick to blame evil deeds on mental illness, remember the truth — less than 5% of violent acts are actually attributed to someone who is mentally ill.