I married a man I didn't know very well. Things were fine until the day he walked up to me and slapped me so hard my ears rang. He then would push me down. I gave him no reason to do that to me. It happened three times. He held a butcher knife to my throat and he has attempted to set me on fire. Later, I was told by his ex-wife he had been in Columbia State Mental Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina for 90 days back in the 1970's. He was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrentic who needed to be on medication the rest of his life. He was released after 90 days with medication. He quit the medication as soon as he realized it controlled him. He has beat up on women all his life. Is he just a mean person, or is this caused by his mental illness? We are going through a divorce. He has threatened to kill me many times. I have a 10 year Order of Protection signed by a local judge in case something suspicious happens to me some day he would be investigated. He is a very scary individual. He doesn't drink or use street drugs of any kind.
Q: Aren't paranoid schizophrentics prone to be dangerous to society?
Hello Sandy Baker,
I am sorry to hear of the violence committed against you by your ex-husband.
You are right to have an order of protection against him.
Most people with schizophrenia aren't violent; they are the victims of crimes.
In your case, the fact that your husband wasn't taking his meds could've contributed to his violence; so yes, in that instance he was the exception to the rule.
A good film to see this fall is the Soloist, starring Jamie Foxx as a musical prodigy whose schizophrenia cut his short his career, causing him to become homeless.
The problem with violence and homeless among people with schizophrenia is these problems are often caused because the person refuses to take his or her meds.
Your husband, as the person he was, could've also been prone to violence as part of his nature.
I know it is hard for you right now to consider the idea that most people with schizophrenia aren't violent, given what happened with your ex-husband. I hope that some day if you meet another person with this illness, you will try to see that he or she could be a good person.
If you read the SharePosts here and see that most people with schizophrenia have healthy, productive lives and wouldn't hurt a fly, you'll begin to see a different picture.
It will take a while for you to recover from the abuse, so I understand and accept it if right now you cannot entertain the possibility that what I've said about most people with the illness is true.
In time, I hope the other people you meet will disprove the stereotype.
Best wishes,
Chri
Generally speaking, paranoid schizophrenics aren't prone to be dangerous. In fact, schizophrenics aren't anymore of a threat to society than a "normal" people.
My mom has paranoid schizophrentia and she seems alot nicer now than before she was diagnosed.Not long after she was diagnosed she went in and out the mental hospital several times because she thought she didnt need the medicine anymore.When she got off her medicine she didnt hurt anyone. She just got to where she would stay in her bed 24/7. She wouldnt even get up to take a bath or use the bathroom.Now at times she would be riding with me to the store and if she saw a cop she would tell me that i was trying to turn her in and make me turn around and bring her home.But she never was and is not a danger to society.It has been 10 years since she was diagnosed, and she has been taking her medicine every day for like 7 or 8 years.She is just like a normal person.She can drive herself pretty much everywhere and she can pretty much do everything she use to before she was diagnosed.So no i dont think they are a danger to the society.
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