Features of Clinical and Psychopathological Characteristics and Biochemical Indicators in Persons with Severe Mental Disorders who have Committed Violent Offenses

In order to expand the understanding of risk factors, to study the pathogenetic mechanisms of social
danger of persons with mental disorders, the clinical, psychopathological and biochemical indicators
of 44 patients with heteroagressive illegal behavior were analyzed. The infl uence of combination of
adverse hereditary, social, and exogenous-organic factors on the formation of anti-social behavior
stereotypes was showed. There were determined the clinical and dynamic characteristics of mental
disorders that contribute to committing off enses with violence: early onset and adverse course of
the disease with the formation of therapeutically resistant psychopathic disorders; a combination
of severe mental pathology with addiction diseases. Signifi cant deviations from the norm in the
parameters of the neurochemical profi le of patients with stable heteroaggressive behavior were
found: low serotonin concentration and high dopamine concentration (p<0.05). Higher levels of testosterone, estradiol, and cortisol were revealed, if compared to healthy individuals with law-abiding behavior (p<0.01). Statistical analysis revealed an inverse correlation between the level of serotonin in the examined patients and the parameter "weakening of impulsivity control (aggressiveness)" of the scale of positive and negative syndromes (PANSS) (R=–0.351; p<0.05). The obtained data can be useful for further study of clinical and biological factors that contribute to formation of behavioral disorders in mentally ill people, accompanied by aggressive tendencies; improving the eff ectiveness of strategies for their prevention.