The increased likelihood of homicide in subjects with MMDs cannot be fully explained by comorbid alcoholism. The results point to the special importance of sufficient treatment for a subgroup of mentally ill individuals being at higher risk of violence.

In 1994 Link and Stueve identified a number of symptoms--called threat/control-override (TCO) symptoms--that were significantly more than others related to violence. This was confirmed by some, but not all, following studies. The contradictory results could be due to remarkable differences in sample compositions, sources used, and definitions and periods of recorded violence, but they are mainly due to problems defining the TCO symptoms. To reexamine the validity of the TCO concept from an exclusively psychopathological position, we compared in a retrospective design a sample of male offenders with schizophrenia not guilty by reason of insanity (n = 119) with a matched sample of nonoffending schizophrenia patients (n = 105). We could find no significant differences regarding the prevalence of TCO symptoms in the two groups during the course of illness. The only statistically significant discriminating factors were social origin and substance abuse. Yet, taking into account the severity of offenses, TCO symptoms emerged as being associated with severe violence. This effect is primarily attributable to the comparatively unspecific threat symptoms. Control-override, to be seen as more or less typical for schizophrenia, showed no significant association with the severity of violent behavior.

No abstract

Although nearly a century has passed since Kraepelin’s investigations in Java [Cbl Nervenheilk Psychiatr 1904; 27:468–469], one crucial question regarding guilt in the course of depression has still not been decided: Is there a more or less stable connection independent of culture, or is guilt confined to certain civilisations? This study investigated this issue in 100 Pakistani and 100 Austrian out-patients diagnosed with ‘major depression’ according to DSM-IV by means of standardised instruments (Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Life Time Version, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, 21-item version). The experiences of guilt were subdivided into ethical feelings (ethical anxiety and feelings of guilt) and delusions of guilt. It turned out that ethical feelings could be found in both cultures regardless of age and sex. They seem to be primarily related to the extent of depressive retardation. However, the distribution of the two subsets of ethical feelings was culture dependent. Delusions of guilt were confined to patients of the Austrian sample. So, our data qualify the exclusivity of the aforementioned two points of view and support the need for a psychopathologically differentiated approach.

The influence of siblings on the socialization of the individual has been recognized as a fact by both psychology and sociology. The significance of sibling order for the outbreak of psychiatric diseases on the other hand is still discussed controversially. In our study, we compared the expected values and the positions actually found in the sibling order of 379 (233 males, 146 females) Austrian and 144 (101 males, 43 females) Pakistani patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to DSM-IV (295). The position in the sibling order had no influence on the outbreak of schizophrenia in Austria; with Austrian schizophrenics, the results found were very near to the expected values. In Pakistan on the other hand, the eldest brothers from families with 2–4 siblings had a significantly higher risk of falling ill. The investigation of the composition of the sibships of schizophrenic patients also showed a high overrepresentation of men in the firstborn position in Pakistan. These facts seem to exercise influences that may either protect against the outbreak or encourage it. The differences found agree well with the fact that in Pakistan, both the gender of a child and the position in the sibling order entail different ways of treatment and different scopes of responsibility. Socialization in Austria on the other hand, at least in the recent decades, has become very uniform for both sexes, regardless of the sibling position.