NCR, or “The Insanity Defence”
“Go with her man.” A guy said and nodded his head towards a young woman who was in the mall. She seemed nice and was friendly but something was wrong. For a while, I had been wandering the food court from table to table, doing what I thought people were telling me to do through signs and signals. This situation had come on me over the course of a few months. At one point I thought my sister wanted me to walk across the city so I could visit her, but was forcibly turned back when I got there.
In this case, I followed the girl and got into the back seat of her sister’s van with her. No one objected, and it seemed that everything was okay. I thought they were going to give me a ride to some secret place, but softly, then with fear in her eyes, the girl seemed to be sobbing. I didn’t know what to do, so when they stopped the van in a parking lot, I just got out. As the door closed, I heard the girl burst into tears. I was later horrified to learn she had feared for her life.
I was suffering from the early phases of schizoaffective disorder, which meant I had mood-swings (mostly depression) and psychosis (a split from reality). The memories of my pre-treatment days flood back because I have been following the tragic David Moss murder case, a horrible situation in Edmonton that resulted in the death of a child. Though I can’t offer a medical opinion, it seems obvious Moss was suffering from some symptoms of schizophrenia and possibly drug-induced psychosis.
I have little compassion for Moss. He chose to go off his medication, he chose to use marijuana. But the media attention, sensationalizing the actions of a person with a mental illness gone haywire, makes me want to speak up for people with schizophrenia and related mental illnesses who are extremely misunderstood and stigmatized in our society.
One of the first things I learned about my illness was that 1 in 100 people will experience schizophrenia, which adds up to about 43,000 people just in my home province of Alberta. Can you imagine what day to day life would be like if everyone who had schizophrenia (not even mentioning other illnesses) were wanton criminals who never had to face consequences of their actions?Most of these people have to spend most of their time sleeping due to the effect of medications and are far from dangerous.
Sadly though, there are some who simply don’t get the help they need. The problem is hidden due to stigma. What we need to do is to bring mental illness into the light of day so it can be treated and the situation where so many homeless people and those without family or community supports suffer in silence. Only when people can maintain their personal dignity instead of being shuffled into the margins of society will the situation improve. https://alberta.cmha.ca/mental-illness-in-canada/
Granted, violence does occur more often in people with schizophrenia, but in a Swedish study, it was shown to go up only slightly, 1.2 times more often than a control group. If they abuse drugs, that number goes up to 1.8 times more likely, which was the case in this recent death. If we were to take everyone with a major mental disorder out of society, violent crime would only decrease by 5%, less than if we were to remove drugs and alcohol from society, and doing that wouldn’t technically deprive anyone of their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. https://theconversation.com/are-you-really-at-risk-of-attack-by-someone-with-schizophrenia-14656
Members of the public sometimes feel that the mentally ill who commit crimes avoid responsibility by pleading Not Criminally Responsible, known in the US as “The Insanity Plea” as David Moss is doing. In our system, a judge and jury, with mental health professionals as witnesses, decide if the standards of NCR are met. The jury composed of members of the public, must feel the accused was unable to distinguish right from wrong or was unable to understand the consequences of their actions. This happens in less than 1% of adult criminal cases, and is extremely rare and difficult to prove.
If NCR is proven, the person is kept indefinitely in a facility much like a jail, regardless of the severity of their crimes. A minor offence can lead to decades of incarceration, and it is extremely rare a major offence leads to a short sentence. Many people found NCR spend their entire lives in a secure facility. Upon release, they have a lower rate of re-offending than inmates from normal jails due to the strict, careful screening process by review panels that consult with doctors and victims. https://robichaudlaw.ca/ncr-not-criminally-responsible-mental-disorder-canada/
Now, 32 years into my own treatment, I take heavy doses of medication. I have side effects such as weight gain, diabetes, tooth decay, insomnia and I don’t doubt a shortened life expectancy. Living with mental illness is difficult, but dealing with people who think I am dangerous or unstable because of a well-controlled illness has always been the worst part.
