At a glance


One in six people have mental health problems – many experience considerable prejudice and discrimination. One of the most damaging myths is that if you have a mental health problem you’re likely to be dangerous.

Media reporting of rare but sensational murders by psychiatric patients creates the impression that everyone with a mental health problem is a ‘mad axeman’.

34% of the public think people with a mental health problem are likely to be violent - in fact being killed by a stranger who is mentally ill is as unlikely as being struck by lightning.

Shift is working with the media, the police, mental health charities and psychiatrists to challenge this misconception.

This is part of wider efforts to tackle the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness – see movingpeople.org.uk and shift.org.uk for further information.

Mental Illness and Violence – the Facts


  • About 9% of homicides in England and Wales are by someone with a history of mental illness (although illness is not always a factor)
  • Less than 1% of homicides a year are random attacks on members of the public by someone with a mental health problem
  • Alcohol and drug problems pose a much greater risk of violence than mental illness
  • Schizophrenia carries a slightly higher risk, with 5% of all homicides carried out by people affected
  • But public fear is misplaced. Most of the hundreds of thousands of people with schizophrenia pose no threat
  • Like others with severe mental illnesses, they are more likely to be victims – rather than perpetrators – of violent crime

Reporting Violence and Mental illness


  • Seek comment from a mental health charity, the Royal College of Psychiatrists or the police spokesperson, who can set the story in perspective
  • Include facts about how few people with mental health problems are violent
  • Speak to the perpetrator’s family – often they are victims too with compelling stories to tell

Reporting Suicide

Detailed reporting of methods used can lead to copycat suicides – careful reporting can save lives:
  • Avoid excessive details about the method used, as required by the PCC code
  • Avoid glorifying or romanticising suicide
  • Include details of a helpline, such as Samaritans – 08457 90 90 90
  • Suicide has been decriminalized, so the term ‘commit suicide’ is inaccurate. Use instead ‘took his own life’ or ‘died by suicide’
  • Suicide is complex. It is misleading to suggest a simplistic cause and effect explanation
  • Don’t use dramatic photographs, footage or images related to a suicide
  • Seek advice from one of the organisations listed in contacts for information

Language Style Guide


  • Don’t use terms like ‘psycho’, ‘schizo’ and ‘nutter’ about someone with a mental health problem – the PCC warns they can create “a climate of public fear and rejection”
  • Defining people as ‘a schizophrenic’ or ‘a depressive’ can cause offence
  • ‘A person with’ is preferable to ‘a person suffering from
  • Avoid using the term ‘the mentally-ill’ – use ‘mental health patients’ or ‘people with mental health problems’
  • Schizophrenic’ should not be used to mean ‘two minds’ or a ‘split personality’ – these are incorrect uses of the term
  • Secure psychiatric hospitals are not prisons – they care for patients, not prisoners or inmates, who are ‘discharged’, not ‘released’

Final Tips


  • Interview people with mental health problems and report their extraordinary stories. Contact the ‘Speakers Bureau’ – see below
  • Remember – anyone can get a mental health problem. They aren’t ‘someone else’ – it could be you, a friend or a relative
  • Encourage more openness about mental illness and challenge stigma – don’t reinforce it! Key Facts about Mental Health
  • One in six people – about 10 million people in the UK – are affected by a mental health problem at any one time
  • Mental health problems cost the UK economy over £77 billion a year in social care, economic losses and premature death
  • About 70% of people affected by mental illness say they have been discriminated against

Key Contacts

For case studies, contact the Speakers Bureau – Ben Furner, 01273 463 461, ben@bf-pr.co.uk

For the details of other people and organisations that can help you, please see the contacts section.