A brother in law of mine worked in the prison system for decades, sometimes in the high security sectors.
He has always stated that some of the most dangerous men there could turn on a dime, so to speak. Lovely and smiling one second, the next violently aggressive over the most trifling thing.
These men often/usually had diagnosed mental conditions.
One of BIL's comments was that if you knew what was walking around free on the streets, you'd be afraid.
I've known several people with mental health issues, and some of them not treated properly in the medical system, in my opinion, but none of these people were aggressive or a danger to others.
But not all mental illnesses are equal and schizophrenia is a serious one.
While most individuals with psychotic disorders will never commit violence, the risk of violence committed by people witht schizophrenia is up to 4 to 6 times higher than the general population.
Mixing it with illegal drugs increases the risk factor. From what I have read, those with mental illness are also more at risk of being victims of violence. What it comes down to is these people need lifelong support systems and lifelong treatment.
Whenever something bad happens, I guess everyone looks around for someone or something to blame. And yes, our health systems could do with more funding and so on, but the blame really comes down to one person.
