Dave's Progress. Chapter 90: Psychotic vs. Psychopathic- A Common Misunderstanding.

I'm sorry to bang on about this, as it is a point I have probably mentioned in previous posts. It is just that this particular misunderstanding about mental ill health is so prevalent that I think it probably deserves one last, hopefully exhaustive explanation. I am, of course, referring to the seemingly ubiquitous mistake made, particularly in the media and (mostly American) films, where the terms "psychotic" and "psychopathic" become confused.
To make it clear, and as far as I know, "psychosis" or being "psychotic" simply refers to a set of symptoms, such as delusions, hallucinations, illusions, becoming withdrawn and flattening of affect. In psychosis, there is no inherent link to violent or criminal behaviour, but more of a break from "reality". Psychosis can occur in illnesses as wide-ranging as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. "Psychopathic", however, refers to a particular type of personality disorder, I believe also referred to as "sociopathic" or "anti-social" in which there is no break with reality and, although it pains me to say this, there is a link to violence. Despite this massive difference, these terms, perhaps because of the prefix "psycho" and its stigmatizing associations, are often used interchangeably.
If I give just a few examples: in "The Observer" newspaper, the habitually violent, criminal character played by Joe Pesci in the film "Goodfellas" was described by the resident film critic as "psychotic". So, this mistake is not confined to the red-tops, but also the apparently liberal, intelligent broadsheets. In the film "Scream", Neve Campbell's character describes the killer, who goes around routinely stabbing innocent teenagers, as "psychotic". And, only the other week, on "Mastermind", of all things, the "psychopathic" character of Thomas Harris' novels and many films, Hannibal Lecter, was similarly described as being "psychotic". Even a piece of junk-mail I received from "Benson's World" video and dvd company described the child killer in Fritz Lang's masterpiece "M" as "psychotic". So, this error seems to be all over the place.
Perhaps the main reason this bothers me (after all, you might think, why be so pedantic, it's only a word?) is because if people like the Campaign for the Abolition of the Schizophrenia label get their way, the name for the illness which has plagued me for some twenty years may be re-named something like "post-traumatic psychosis". So, if this term continues to be misused, the erroneous assumption that there is an inherent link between schizophrenia and violence will continue, despite the re-naming. It is a well researched fact, after all, that misunderstanding leads to a misattribution of anti-social behaviours, and therefore, stigma.
So, I hope, once and for all, I have cleared up this confusion for you and you will all now go about being good anti-stigma campaigners, and point out to people when they are making this mistake. OK, so maybe I'm being optimistic. But, this would have a very real effect, if the research is to be trusted, and make a lot of people's lives easier.
So, it's back to the old subject for now, but rest assured I will return, after the responses I got for my last post, with another, perhaps lighter and different topic. Maybe I could take to infusing the quotidian with comedic flourishes, like my pal klahanie, who gets away with making talking about things like radiators, washing-machines, toasters, and bog-roll entertaining. I guess you'll just have to wait and see.
But, that's all for now from your normal, average, delusional and paranoid man.