According to a study published in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment lowering substance abuse can lessen violent acts in patients suffering from severe mental illness. Though the vast majority of people with mental illness may not engage in violence the risk is greater among the severely mentally ill than among the general population found the study. 'We were surprised to find that the severity of the patient s psychiatric symptoms was not the primary factor in predicting later aggression. Rather the patient s substance abuse was the factor most closely associated with future aggression' said Clara Bradizza senior research
