My son was violent toward me, too. And other mothers on this board have had that experience too. The fact is that many or most of us make no police report about the violence we experience.
I didn’t report it because at some level, even before he was diagnosed, I knew that my son was not ’ in his right mind.’ I didn’t know why or what to do about it, but I knew that. I didn’t report him to the police because I also knew that he was ‘vulnerable’. He’s not a tough guy. He couldn’t possibly survive in jail.
I made my son leave home. I paid for his ticket and sent him to another family member. From there he went to another. From there he eventually found his own place. Eventually, he had a psychotic episode and all became clear. And he got treatment.
All the way through I have tried to maintain our relationship and support him when he needs help. I no longer have to stay away from him to be safe. We are very close again these days.
I am glad that he has come through without a criminal record, without actually living on the street (I had to find a temporary home for him at one point).
I might add here that his story might very well be different. He might say that I made him homeless and that’s why he had an episode. He doesn’t fully accept his diagnosis yet, so he cannot recognize that he was paranoid and aggressive in his prodrome period.
But, yes, it is common to say that people with mental illness are not violent, that they are more often the victims of violence, but MI like depression is included in that. Bipolar and schizophrenia are often not separated out. And even if they were, you are still only talking about reported levels of violence. Much of it is covered up.