Mental Illness Doesn't Predict Violent Behavior - Even when combined with substance abuse, psychiatric woes rank low as risk factor, study finds

Mental illness alone is not a predictor of future violent behavior, but mental illness combined with substance abuse or dependence does increase the risk, according to U.S. researchers who analyzed data collected from nearly 35,000 people.

People who have a severe mental illness but no substance abuse or a history of violence weren't any more likely than any other person in the general population to be violent over a period of three years, the study found. But the risk for future violence reached the level of statistical significance when mental illness was combined with substance abuse.

Still, the mental illness/substance abuse combination only ranked ninth on the study's list of the top 10 predictors of future violence. The predictors, listed from first to tenth, were: age (younger people are more likely to commit violence); history of violence; gender (males are more prone to violence); history of juvenile detention; divorce or separation in the past year; history of physical abuse; parental criminal history; unemployment in the past year; mental illness with substance abuse; and victimization in the past year.

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Medicaid Recipients Have Trouble Finding Mental Health Care

Medicaid beneficiaries with substance abuse and mental disorders are less likely to use community services, even though most of the medical help for these disorders is community-based, a new study finds.

The study, which is published in the July issue of Psychiatric Services, examined where integrated treatments for co-occurring psychiatric and substance abuse disorders would be most needed for Medicaid recipients.

Psychiatric and substance abuse disorders are a major problem among the Medicaid population, which has 50 percent to 100 percent more cases than the general population.

Previous research has suggested that community-based treatment for these disorders is superior to treatment in hospitals, with the continuity of treatment being weaker and costs being higher in hospital settings. Because of this, care providers have focused on providing intervention programs in community settings, such as clinics and therapists' offices.

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