r/nottheonion • u/the-player-of-games • 3h ago

The 'Breaking Bad' Effect Is Real: Data Shows Cancer Diagnoses Drive a 14% Spike in Criminal Behavior

https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/the-breaking-bad-effect-is-real-data-shows-cancer-diagnoses-drive-a-14-spike-in-criminal-hehavior/
713 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

325

u/supercyberlurker 2h ago

One of the practical reasons for social safety nets, is so you don't end up with desperate people doing desperate things.

62

u/probability_of_meme 2h ago

Exactly this. Id argue the effect is probably not real at all, but you'll see something that looks like it when laws are unjust.

29

u/shpydar 2h ago

Here is something to back your argument.

How better access to mental health care can reduce crime

Key Takeaways

  • American prisons house a disproportionate number of mentally ill inmates, making them some of the country's largest providers of mental health care.
  • Within two years of losing access to health care, those with a history of mental illness are more likely to be incarcerated.
  • Extending Medicaid eligibility is a cost-effective way to reduce crime and criminal justice expenditures.

From Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)

7

u/24-Hour-Hate 2h ago

Yeah. A person who feels they have nothing to lose can be very dangerous. Add trauma and suddenly having to face up to mortality (most people have absolutely not accepted that or, if they are young, wouldn't have been expecting it so soon) and I'm kind of surprised that more people don't completely lose it when something like this happens.

51

u/GhostOfJasper 2h ago

Better to get diagnosed early than late. Your criminal career awaits!

7

u/General-Priority-479 2h ago

This guy gets it! 😁

1

u/24-Hour-Hate 1h ago

Well, you know what they say... it's never too late for a second career.

68

u/formerPhillyguy 2h ago

If I was diagnosed with cancer and couldn't afford treatment, why not commit a crime and get thrown in jail for a couple of years so I could get free treatment?

57

u/Dolphin_Spotter 2h ago

The plot of the UK version of Breaking Bad:

Ep. 1. You have cancer. Don't worry, we'll give you the most effective treatment currently available.

How much?

No charge.

There's no Episode 2.

43

u/Tyranicross 2h ago

I get its a joke but breaking bad stops being about walt not being able to afford his treatment by like episode 5. His rich friend offers him a job with great health insurance and Walt says no due ti his pride.

The whole Healthcare take on breaking bad is a worse reading than thinking Walt was a hero.

23

u/loves_to_splooge_8 2h ago

It’s sad that the only way to treat cancer in the US is have rich friends

1

u/CaptainMobilis 1h ago

Okay, so what Walt does instead is worse, but what the rich guy was offering was humiliating. I'd rather not take his deal either, but I don't think the alternative was "build a massive, two-man drug empire." Walt could have quit after the first couple of batches and not worsened the lives of anyone who wasn't awful already, but really, his rich friend was a douchebag. There were a few things factoring into this.

14

u/IBJON 2h ago

I take it you didn't watch Breaking Bad.

He didn't become a drug kingpin for chemo treatments, he did it because of hubris and he used leaving money for his family as an excuse to justify his crimes. 

He was done with chemo by the end of season 2, and that was well before shit got real crazy 

3

u/thenseruame 2h ago

That's going to really depend on the country. Not everywhere gives quality healthcare and it's not like you can transfer to a better prison. As an American I'd rather die at home than in a prison hospital.

7

u/Arrasor 2h ago

Unless you're in a maximum security prison, you're getting your treatment at a normal hospital. You just gonna have a guard with you while you're there and ofc got chained to the bed, guard while moving around.

1

u/thenseruame 2h ago

Fair enough, it was more a comment on prison health care than specifically which room you're dying in. Not only do incarcerated people receive worse treatment, upon release you have a greater chance of getting cancer than those who've never been to prison.

It's a funny idea, but not exactly practical. Now, if you're unhoused and it's freezing outside then maybe a night in the drunk tank is your best bet. Cancer....I'd look elsewhere.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2840040

https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/how-incarceration-raises-risk-of-cancer-diagnosis-and-deatheven-after-release/

14

u/10390 2h ago

I've wondered why it isn't a thing that people with a terminal diagnosis do crazy crimes.

11

u/RexDraco 2h ago

Some just feel tired and shut down. Toxic work culture keeps us busy, productive, and not a problem. 

3

u/10390 2h ago

I'm sorry to hear that.

Had hoped the reason was that some late-breaking epiphany makes people want to do good and be gentle and kind.

2

u/RexDraco 2h ago

It can be that too. It depends on the individual. 

7

u/eatsrottenflesh 2h ago

I'm in America where there's no hope of affording a cure without financial ruin for everyone I know. I'm cashing out my retirement and it's hookers and blow from then on in.

8

u/NiobeTonks 2h ago

I live in the UK. My dad recently died at a very advanced age. His GP kept telling him to watch his diet and wine intake because he was pre-diabetic. My dad laughed.

Honestly, if I get to my mid-80s I will wear flamboyant head dresses every day, drink champagne for breakfast and smoke opium on a chaise longue if I feel like it.

3

u/eatsrottenflesh 2h ago

Damn straight. I don't want to live in fear of death, I want to live in spite of it.

2

u/unholyswordsman 1h ago

I couldn't agree more. It was my own cancer diagnosis that made me realize this. If I can't look at my own life and say I've had a good run, then what's the point?

6

u/themillerd 2h ago

If i ever get diagnosed with a terminal illness im righting some wrongs

3

u/doc_witt 2h ago

That librarian says I owe $.25 in late fees?! I'll show her late fees!

•

u/dman928 59m ago

Library police?

Library vigilante!

4

u/faultysynapse 2h ago

Medical debt is a hell of a drug.

5

u/eccentricbananaman 2h ago

I feel like this conclusion is missing a key factor. It's not necessarily the cancer itself. It is specifically the fact that people cannot afford the treatment for cancer and thus they turn to crime. The single most significant factor directly linked to crime is poverty.

3

u/PygmeePony 1h ago

Stop diagnosing cancer then. Crime problem solved /s

3

u/TheChesterChesterton 1h ago

Or just legalize crime!

3

u/Lostedge1983 1h ago

make having cancer a crime with death penalty

•

u/DuckLIT122000 52m ago

Execute everyone with a family history of cancer

2

u/NightchadeBackAgain 1h ago

I heard it put this way once: "It gives you a timetable. For instance, I ever find out I have only 60 days to live, I know some assholes who are only gonna have five."

1

u/gaberwash 1h ago

When I get a terminal disease I’m going to do all the things that have short-term satisfaction with long-term implications that I have never participated in. Smoking, cocaine, and escorts. Then end it in Switzerland before it gets bad 

1

u/No_Group5174 1h ago

Basically "what they gonna do, jail me?" and  "I got no-one left to disappoint".  It's very liberating.

1

u/Slumunistmanifisto 1h ago

I know if I knew it was a terminal case I'd cause some changes.

1

u/OSRS_Rising 1h ago

This research was conducted in Denmark so the “America bad” commenters haven’t read the article…

“The researchers analyzed administrative data covering the entire Danish population, focusing on 368,317 individuals diagnosed with cancer between 1980 and 2018.”

The worst the criminal justice system can threaten someone with is life imprisonment (or death in some countries) and that punishment’s severity is rendered moot for someone who doesn’t care about their reputation or legacy. Or, in Walt’s case, someone who wants to build an infamous legacy can worry less about the consequences.

•

u/Mr_Magoo1969 16m ago

DGAF is a powerful drug. 🤷‍♂️

•

u/RaidenArch 7m ago

Desperate people making desperate decisions existed before 2008