{"id":860,"date":"2026-09-09T13:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/?p=860"},"modified":"2026-09-09T13:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T13:26:12","slug":"reint-jelger-hi-gem-you-write-the-vast-majority-of-people-diagnosed-with-schizophrenia-are-non-violent-and-many-are-exceptionally-kind-gentle-empathetic-and-warm-what-kind-of-percentage-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/?p=860","title":{"rendered":"Reint Jelger: Hi Gem, you write: &#171;The vast majority of people diagnosed with schizophrenia are non-violent, and many are exceptionally kind, gentle, empathetic, and warm.&#187; what kind of percentage of Schizophrenia victims are we talking about that are non-violent, and should there not be a distinction, something like Sweet Schizo and Violent Schizo?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Google Gemini: The vast majority of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia\u2014typically estimated between <strong>85% and 90%<\/strong>\u2014never commit a violent act. Research consistently shows that the lifetime prevalence of violent behavior among people with schizophrenia is around 10% to 15%, compared to roughly 2% to 3% in the general population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"559\" src=\"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/afbeelding-26.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-861\" srcset=\"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/afbeelding-26.png 1024w, https:\/\/baarda.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/afbeelding-26-300x164.png 300w, https:\/\/baarda.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/afbeelding-26-768x419.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 706px) 89vw, (max-width: 767px) 82vw, 740px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When violence does occur, it is rarely random. It is strongly correlated with co-occurring factors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Substance Use:<\/strong> Concurrent drug or alcohol abuse significantly increases the risk of violent behavior.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lack of Treatment:<\/strong> Untreated acute psychosis, particularly persecutory delusions (e.g., believing someone is actively trying to harm them) or command hallucinations, can drive self-defense responses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>History of Abuse or Trauma:<\/strong> Environmental and personal history factors carry significant weight, just as they do in the general population.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Medical Science Avoids Terms Like &#171;Sweet&#187; vs. &#171;Violent&#187; Schizophrenia<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In psychiatric medicine, schizophrenia is understood as a complex neurodevelopmental disorder rather than a fixed personality type. Creating formal diagnostic subtypes like &#171;sweet&#187; versus &#171;violent&#187; is avoided for several specific clinical reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>State vs. Trait:<\/strong> Violence is an episodic behavior or state, not an inherent trait or permanent subclass of the illness. A person experiencing severe persecutory delusions during an untreated psychotic episode might act out in perceived self-defense, but become gentle, passive, and cooperative once stabilized on medication.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Symptom Profiles Vary Dynamic:<\/strong> Schizophrenia encompasses a wide array of cognitive, positive (e.g., hallucinations, delusions), and negative symptoms (e.g., apathy, social withdrawal, emotional blunting). Categorizing someone by behavioral output oversimplifies the underlying pathology.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Risk of Stigma and Misdiagnosis:<\/strong> Binary labeling obscures clinical focus. Rather than categorizing the <em>person<\/em>, clinicians evaluate specific <em>risk factors<\/em>\u2014such as command hallucinations, substance misuse, treatment compliance, and social support networks\u2014to assess and mitigate safety risks effectively.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By focusing on symptom management, early intervention, and substance use treatment, healthcare systems can minimize behavioral risks while supporting recovery and integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"559\" src=\"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/afbeelding-27.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-862\" srcset=\"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/afbeelding-27.png 1024w, https:\/\/baarda.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/afbeelding-27-300x164.png 300w, https:\/\/baarda.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/afbeelding-27-768x419.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 706px) 89vw, (max-width: 767px) 82vw, 740px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google Gemini: The vast majority of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia\u2014typically estimated between 85% and 90%\u2014never commit a violent act. Research consistently shows that the lifetime prevalence of violent behavior among people with schizophrenia is around 10% to 15%, compared to roughly 2% to 3% in the general population. When violence does occur, it is rarely &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/?p=860\" class=\"more-link\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">&#171;Reint Jelger: Hi Gem, you write: &#171;The vast majority of people diagnosed with schizophrenia are non-violent, and many are exceptionally kind, gentle, empathetic, and warm.&#187; what kind of percentage of Schizophrenia victims are we talking about that are non-violent, and should there not be a distinction, something like Sweet Schizo and Violent Schizo?&#187;<\/span> weiterlesen<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=860"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":863,"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions\/863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}