Does bipolar disorder make for susceptibility to crime?

[DrS]

Unless he gets a last-minute reprieve, which is apparently always possible in China, Akmal Shaikh is going to be executed within the next 24 hour for smuggling 4 kilos of heroin.

He says he had no idea what he was doing, and has denied all knowledge of being in possession of the drugs, which strikes me as somewhat contradictory. The thing that interests me particularly, though, is that his defence centres on the claim that he has a bipolar disorder. He is thus said to be "mentally ill".

Mental health charity Sane has said that China "may have overlooked" the impact of bipolar disorder on a person's behaviour.

Does anyone know why/whether being bipolar should either make one more susceptible to persuasion to do something illegal and, worse, personally dangerous, or if not that, then more susceptible to being duped into doing something unknowingly? It's the same sort of argument as that used by McKinnon who is still fighting extradition to the US for hacking, though that is in relation to Aspergers specifically.

Shaikh story in the Beeb HERE (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8432101.stm)

[Pebble]

From memory only, so don't quote me. During manic phase of bipolar illness, individuals get grandiose delusions about all sorts of things, giving away all their money, spending money they don't have on grand schemes etc. So I can certainly imagine that a delusional belief that one could make a fortune by smuggling drugs, coupled with a lack of insight into the risks involved could follow.
The mad cap ideas generally come from the individual themselves, how readily they are guided along a certain path I do not know, but the inconsistency of their behaviour would make them a very unlikely target for anyone that wished to ensure the safe delivery of contraband to a specified location.

[Floppit]

I heard his daughter on the radio today, she was saying he's still not with it so to speak, doesn't really get that he'll be executed and she said that he tried to defend himself in his trial and gave speeches that just made no sense, also he isn't pleading insanity, that's happening on his behalf. Granted it was a pretty one sided source though.

I think any loss of faculties can make a person vulnerable to being persuaded or conned into committing crimes, but I'm less sure that it makes crime over all more likely, rather that the motives/causes maybe very different.

I remember bipolar described pretty much as Pebble just has. I was spent 3 days sharing an office with a guy who's job it was to get debt cancelled for people with a variety of MH problems (his office flooded). It was really funny, he'd be on the phone trying to keep his cool while he put forward evidence that they could have reasonably known it'd be a bad debt (previous multiple money cock ups), and why did they send the CC ads to him? The stupidity of some of the lenders beggared belief!

[seren]

Pebble's right- the mania phase of bipolar can include psychosis- loss of reality, delusions and hallucination. It can be full-blown madness, basically. Depends on the patient how the mania manifests and to what degree, but it's perfectly possible for him to be utterly delusional.

I know someone with psychiatric issues who got involved with drug running. He knew what he was doing, however. In a hypo- or manic phase it might seem like the best idea in the world regardless of its illegality.

[Tony Williams]

Drifting slightly OT but I've read recently that defence lawyers (or more accurately defense lawyers) have started to use arguments - with some success - that their clients have genetic conditions which dispose them towards crime; the argument being that their actions were not entirely voluntary.

I do wonder where this will end...will we all get rated for genetic predispositions and, should we break the law, get different punishments accordingly?

Of course, the argument could be turned on its head - if a particular genetic marker is found to correlate with murderous behaviour, should those with it be locked up permanently, for the safety of the public?

We live in interesting times....

[Floppit]

Tony, I might be imagining things, maybe something I thought about but never did, but I think I started a thread about the very same issues some time ago. It's something that interests me a great deal and I think it's tackled in the wrong way (arguing from the point of deficit rather than demonstrable ability).

I'll have a hunt for it.

[Croydon Bob]

Well, he's been executed now. And I'm sad about that, I don't support the death penalty. But...

It seems that every Brit who commits a crime abroad should be let off because they have a mental illness. Hacked computers? Aspergers. Smuggled heroin? Bipolar. Mass murder? Migraine*. Is there any UK national living abroad who doesn't suffer from a mental illness?

If Akmal Shaikh was as delusional as his family are now suggesting then why did they let him travel off to Poland, India, China? We're supposed to be believe that this was a man completely incapable of looking after himself who could be fooled into believing anything that anyone told him. Would you let your father, or a near relative, travel alone if they were like that? I speak as someone with an elderly parent who is easily confused and conned.


* I made that one up. I think...

[DrS]

I agree Bob, and I suppose this sort of question was in my mind when I posted the thread. As I understand it, the question of mental illness didn't arise in the trial, where he defended himself, but only arose afterwards as supporters challenged the verdict. Where were they during the trial? If they had been kept away why wasn't an issue made of that, as well as/instead of the bipolar thing?

As you say, whenever a case erupts like this, mental illness seems suddenly to be the "reason". And again as you say, could it not be argued that anyone who lives abroad is nuts to begin with. I know I think I must be sometimes!

[seren]

If the guy was sectioned, he has the right to tell the detaining authority that his nearest relative (the person he would nominate as nearest relative) must not be contacted. Once he's discharged he can go where he wants, when he wants, without his nearest relative knowing about it.

[Julia]

My late mother was bipolar, and I can certainly believe that a patient in the manic phase of the illness could be very vulnerable if someone tried to get them involved in illegal activities. It's not that the patient doesn't know they're doing something wrong, it's that they don't care. As has been pointed out, they think the rules of everyday life don't apply to them.