Young adults who commit violent crimes may demonstrate warning signs of mental illness

By Staff Writer

In recent years, the media has focused on tragedies in which young people commit horrible crimes. For example, in Tuscon, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner went on a shooting spree, which left six people dead and 14 injured, according to USA Today.

Glenn Saxe, chair of the department of child and adolescent psychiatry at the New York University Langone Medical Center, said that early adulthood can be a difficult age because many types of mental disorders show up during this time.

Scott Saunders, director of the Trauma Psychiatry Service at the University of California in Los Angeles Medical Center, added that bipolar disorder can appear around age 25, while schizophrenia can occur in the late teens or early 20s, reports the media outlet.

However, many problem teens show signs that they are suffering from mental distress. For example, Ben McGahee, a former teacher of Loughner, told the news provider that he thought the young man's behavior was disruptive. He added that he actually wondered if Laughner would have a violent outburst.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, just over 20 percent of children have had or may develop a seriously debilitating mental disorder.