Violence and Mental Illness -- How Strong is the Link?

NEJM -- Violence and Mental Illness -- How Strong is the Link?:
"On Sunday afternoon, September 3, 2006, Wayne Fenton, a prominent schizophrenia expert and an associate director at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), was found dead in his office. He had just seen a 19-year-old patient with schizophrenia who later admitted to the police that he had beaten Fenton with his fists.
This tragic incident was widely publicized and raises, once again, the controversial question about the potential danger posed by people with mental illness. The killing also left many in the mental health and medical communities concerned about their own safety in dealing with psychotic patients. After all, if an expert like Fenton, who understood the risks better than most, could not protect himself, who could?
It is not an idle question. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey for 1993 to 1999, conducted by the Department of Justice, the annual rate of nonfatal, job-related, violent crime was 12.6 per 1000 workers in all occupations. Among physicians, the rate was 16.2 per 1000, and among nurses, 21.9 per 1000. But for psychiatrists and mental health professionals, the rate was 68.2 per 1000, and for mental health custodial workers, 69.0 per 1000./.../ "
An audio interview with Dr. Richard Friedman