For a lot of people, mental illness is something they know only in the headlines, usually when a mentally-ill person commits a crime. The case of Andrea Yates leaps to mind, but many others have graced the pages of our newspapers or the screens of our television sets.

When mental illness is something one hears about only as a courtroom tactic used by defense attorneys, it’s easy to assume that mental illness doesn’t really exist. Heck, if I knew it only from defense attorneys, I’d agree! But mental illness, and mood disorders, do exist, independently of criminal courts.

In fact, what is called “insanity” in court, doesn’t correlate to mental illness, in the rest of the world. The legal meaning of insanity is rather specific, and focused solely on one issue: Was the person aware of the consequences of their actions? Mental illness, on the other hand, goes far beyond this. Most mentally ill people, including almost all folks with mood disorders, do not qualify as “legally insane” and probably never will. The number of people who are actually “legally insane” in the United States at this very moment, probably number no more than a couple dozen.

The fact is, the mentally ill are no more, or less, likely to act out violently, than anyone else. This has been borne out by statistical surveys that probably stack up higher than I am tall. In addition, in many cases, it’s possible for caretakers or family to anticipate when a mentally-ill person may act out — since mental illness often manifests in predictable patterns of behavior — thus actually reducing the danger, in many cases.

Of course, this depends on the willingness of those around the ill person to acknowledge such possibilities and plan for just such contingencies. Too often, though, especially family members are unwilling to admit that something of this sort might happen. These, sadly, are the folks who end up grabbing headlines.

Another point to be made is that violent acts such as these, which make headlines, do not really represent the mentally ill. Some folks may qualify as “legally insane” yet not be clinically mentally ill. This may sound unbelievable, but it’s true, because as I pointed out, being legally insane and clinically mentally ill, are not the same thing.

I can only admonish you not to form your opinion about mental illness, especially of mood disorders, based on media headlines and lawyers’ sound bites. Neither of these is a good way to learn about anything, much less mental illness!

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