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This is one of the things that popped into my head recently and isn't going away - society has accepted that "chronic, usually irrational sadness" is a mental h

This is one of the things that popped into my head recently and isn't going away - society has accepted that "chronic, usually irrational sadness" is a mental health issue which can and should be treated. But a "chronic, usually irrational tendency for violence" is considered repugnant and worthy of long imprisonment. True, the effects fall on different categories of people (yourself vs others) and it might be difficult to identify it as a mental health issue, but I'd assume many repeat offenders might benefit a lot from psychological support. I know The Economist had an article recently about how the incidence of brain injuries is a lot higher in prison than in the general population [1] I'm no psychology expert, I'd love to hear an informed opinion on this. [1] https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/03/27/a-huge-share-of-prisoners-have-brain-injuries-they-need-more-help https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/03/27/a-huge-share-of...

bryanrasmussen 5y ago
>"chronic, usually irrational tendency for violence" is considered repugnant and worthy of long imprisonment. True, the effects fall on different categories of people (yourself vs others) well first off some depressive people show an increased tendency towards violence https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4520382/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4520382/ (although also of course it is a well known statistic that being depressed often makes you a victim of violent crime as well or at least there is some relation between the two) also in my experience people who commit violence often suffer for the violence they have committed although that is very much dependent on the person.
- xenocratus 5y ago
  And if they do not suffer, does that not imply that some mental functions available to the majority of people is lacking in them? I'm not trying to excuse them if they're culpable, but trying to fix instead of vilifying seems even more important when the cost of the actions falls on others.
falsaberN1 5y ago
Having a chronic, irrational sadness is way less likely to incur in damage to third parties, while chronic, irrational violence puts vulnerable people in danger. Emphasis in vulnerable, irrational violence doesn't mean the person, if bad-natured enough, cannot pick easier targets, specially women and children. Their violence might also manifest in manipulation and abuse "as an outlet". It's less about getting help and more about wanting to get help. The depressive person might want that help because they realize they can hardly function, the violent person might not want that help because they discovered they can use violence as a tool. And that's why it's considered repugnant.
- xenocratus 5y ago
  Ok, and understanding/knowing that somehow doesn't change the tone to "said person should be helped"? I get why it's seen that way if you're oblivious to mental illness being a thing, but we're presumably more capable of understanding mental illness, at least at society level.
  - falsaberN1 5y ago
    Yes, of course they should get help, I'm mostly talking of why it's perceived that way.
groby_b 5y ago
I'd recommend a read of "Why They Kill" by Richard Rhodes - which very much points in the direction of the tendency to violence behaving like an illness. (It does identify clear intervention points, too)

bryanrasmussen 5y ago

>"chronic, usually irrational tendency for violence" is considered repugnant and worthy of long imprisonment. True, the effects fall on different categories of people (yourself vs others) well first off some depressive people show an increased tendency towards violence https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4520382/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4520382/ (although also of course it is a well known statistic that being depressed often makes you a victim of violent crime as well or at least there is some relation between the two) also in my experience people who commit violence often suffer for the violence they have committed although that is very much dependent on the person.

xenocratus 5y ago
And if they do not suffer, does that not imply that some mental functions available to the majority of people is lacking in them? I'm not trying to excuse them if they're culpable, but trying to fix instead of vilifying seems even more important when the cost of the actions falls on others.

falsaberN1 5y ago

Having a chronic, irrational sadness is way less likely to incur in damage to third parties, while chronic, irrational violence puts vulnerable people in danger. Emphasis in vulnerable, irrational violence doesn't mean the person, if bad-natured enough, cannot pick easier targets, specially women and children. Their violence might also manifest in manipulation and abuse "as an outlet". It's less about getting help and more about wanting to get help. The depressive person might want that help because they realize they can hardly function, the violent person might not want that help because they discovered they can use violence as a tool. And that's why it's considered repugnant.

xenocratus 5y ago
Ok, and understanding/knowing that somehow doesn't change the tone to "said person should be helped"? I get why it's seen that way if you're oblivious to mental illness being a thing, but we're presumably more capable of understanding mental illness, at least at society level.
- falsaberN1 5y ago
  Yes, of course they should get help, I'm mostly talking of why it's perceived that way.

groby_b 5y ago

I'd recommend a read of "Why They Kill" by Richard Rhodes - which very much points in the direction of the tendency to violence behaving like an illness. (It does identify clear intervention points, too)