Mental illness diagnosis raises risk of becoming a victim of crime: Study

Men's risk of being a victim rose by 76% while women's went up three-fold, says study

Having a mental illness makes people more vulnerable to becoming the victims of a crime, a recent analysis suggests.

Based on nationwide data from more than 2 million people in Denmark, researchers found that in the 10 years following a diagnosis with any psychiatric disorder, a man’s risk of being the victim of a crime that was reported to police rose by 50 per cent. For women, the risk went up by 64 per cent compared to women without mental illnesses.

The greatest increased danger was from violent crime: men’s risk of being a victim rose by 76 per cent