Stéphane Potvin, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Addictology at the University of Montreal, has been interested for a number of years in the brain signatures of violent behavior in schizophrenia.
The goal is not to reduce violence to what happens in the brain, but to understand certain biological mechanisms that could eventually lead to new therapeutic tools.
When he talks about it, he immediately brings an important nuance: the vast majority of people who live with a psychotic disorder do not commit violent acts. In reality, they are even more often victims than perpetrators of violent acts.
People with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who have a history of serious physical violence – having caused significant physical injuries, sometimes with objects likely to result in hospitalization – thus constitute a particular subpopulation. A fringe that frequently presents other risk factors, such as a history of antisocial behavior from childhood or substance abuse problems.
For the professor, it is essential to avoid any confusion between psychosis and violence. “The vast majority of violent acts committed in society are not committed by people who have a psychotic disorder,” recalls the man who is also a researcher at the University Institute of Mental Health of Montreal and holder of the Eli Lilly Research Chair in Schizophrenia.