Mental Illness : A Wide Range Of Mental Health

Mental Illness has been prevalent all throughout our history from Isaac Newton to Abraham Lincoln to Sylvia Plath and so on. These illnesses can be as minor as a slight bipolar disorder or as severe as schizophrenia. In recent years, mental illnesses are becoming more prevalent in our criminal justice systems than anywhere else. Mental illness is becoming an association with crime and based on the information that has been found, this paper will attempt to further define the problem of mental illness within our criminal justice system and offer alternatives or insights as to how to possibly help with this problem.

Mental health and the criminal justice system have long been intertwined. Analyzing and understanding the links between these two subjects demands for a person to go in to depth in the fields of criminology, sociology, psychology, and psychiatry, because there are many points of view on whether or not a person’s criminal behavior is due to their mental health. Some believe that an unstable mental state of mind can highly influence a person’s decision of committing criminal actions. Others believe that mental health and crime are not related and that linking them together is a form of discrimination because it insinuates that those in our society that suffer from poor mental health are most likely to become a criminal due to their

This essay will look at the public understanding of the nature of mental disorder and to what extent it is associated with dangerousness and violence. The essay will begin by exploring the public’s perspectives and opinions on the matter and the impact that the mentally ill have on crime rates. Specific social perspectives will also be explored..

A small group of people with mental illness (those with severe and untreated symptoms of schizophrenia with Psychosis, major depression or bi-polar mood disorder) may have an increased rate of violence. In this group, Individuals who are suffering from psychotic symptoms that cause them to feel threatened or manipulated by Outside forces have a greater tendency towards violent behaviour. In spite of this, with early assessment and Appropriate treatment, individuals with severe illness are no more dangerous than the general population. Community treatment programs have also been found to be helpful in the management of behaviours that lead to crime.

Historically, society has believed that people with mental disorders tend to be more violent than normal people, creating a stigma for patients. They thought that a mentally ill person tends to cause harm and chaos which was difficult for this person to deal with. In fact, research suggests that public opinions on the relationship between mental illness and violence do not reflect reality, although some people with psychiatric disorders commit violent crimes, it was not really clear about how much mental illness or substance abuse affect violent behaviour. Media had a great effect on people by making them think that the mentally ill are violent which was proved to be a myth, as they are more likely to be victims than offenders.

In America today, mental illness as it relates to violence and crime is highly debated as to whether or not it plays a factor in crimes. Even though

In this article , the author Professor James Alan Fox discusses that it is an average of 9,289 people killed by someone with some type of mental health issue. Also, he speaks about the FBI’s crime reports between the years of 2007-2011. Statistics had shown that the U.S had an average of 13,700 homicides. He states that, if lives need to be saved, then the people that are making these deaths happen have to receive some type of treatment. Fox article is a reliable source because he discusses the failure of how the ones’ committing these crimes are still out here on the streets. He is a reliable source because he is a Professor at Northeastern University of Criminology, Law and Public Policy.

In the wake of horrific crimes like Sandy Hooks shootings, and the Aurora movie theater shooting and the countless others that have plagued the Nation America is scared and heart broken. the government and the country are frantically trying to find answer and solutions in issues like guns to prevent these unspeakable acts of violence. But even though all these men have had the weapons to achieve their acts, they have had one more characteristic that's sometimes overlooked in common, their unstable minds and serious mental illness. Mental illness with its brutal stigma and awful history seems to be overlooked in the public's eyes when looking at real problems And i believe that mental illness is important in the prevention of these

It is often difficult to understand the decision making of people that lack the mental stability of average people. Many people may argue that mental illness has no relation to crime. Sherry Glied, and Richard G. Frank search for an explanation of violent acts and how they can be linked to some clues of psychological abnormalities. In the academic article, "Mental Illness and Violence: Lessons from the Evidence," Glied and Frank discuss the reason for which a person may become violent, whether it deals with mental health or has no relation at all. Meanwhile, Jeffrey H, Nathan, and others, conducted experiments regarding mental health problems and the seriousness of criminal issues. In, "Attribution and Serious Mental Illness: Understanding Multiple Perspectives and Ethno Cultural factors," these scholars focused on the idea that mental illness and violence are set off by other attributes, such as stress, anger and family problems. Both of these articles deal with the aspects of mental illness and the possible links to violence. In further discussion, readers will be able to understand the studies with different approaches, such as the type of audience they attract. Also, the scholars present evidence to prove the credibility of their studies.

Over the past few decades, many researches have strived to test and explain the correlation between violence and crime and mental illness. Moore and Hiday (2006) assert that up 22% of inmates has a mental illness, sometimes containing more mental illness patients than many psychiatric units. Due to these statistics it is evident how important it is to understand the causes of the correlations between crime and violence and mental disorders. This proposal wishes to explain and understand the possible correlation and the reasons for such correlation between mental health illnesses and violence and crime. Further research to test

Senator Creigh Deeds story is just one of many that end in tragedy because of a mental health system that has failed. While the major proportion of people living with mental illness are not violent, they can become a victim of violence. According to the latest statistics from the American Psychological Association one in five adults has a diagnosable mental disorder, one in twenty-four has a serious mental disorder (SMI), and people with mental illness are no more likely to be violent that people without mental illness (Association, American Psychiatric, 2016). Untreated mental health care is characteristic of the violent crimes that we see happening today. Some of the reasons behind these untreated individuals are the unmet needs of people not having a financial means to pay for services, lack of insurance, knowledge about how to access care, embarrassment about having the need for services, and those that needed care but experienced delays in accessing care (Jones et al., 2014).

Nowadays, the number of people in prison with a mental illness is about four times higher than that in the general population. This statistic is supported by a number of facts including that people with mental disabilities are reportedly not as financially stable as as those who do not have a mental disorder. They are also more likely to commit a larger amount of crimes of survival such as dining and dashing or stealing items from stores. Also, there are quite more people suffering from mental illnesses in the general population and people usually tolerate them less. For example, it is proven that if someone sees a person or is approached by someone shouting or displaying strange behavior they are more likely to contact the police (1).

In a psychiatric note written on February 9, 2017 by SM current psychiatrist Dr. Borah, SM was given a diagnosis of PTSD. According to records his current medications include: Venlafaxine, trazodone,oxcarbazepine, propanolol and Reza Pam when necessary for overwhelming anxiety. The VA psychiatric note also noted significant partner relationship issues.. VA documentation also noted that patient is engaged in treatment consisting of individual psychotherapy and psychotropic medications and noted that SM is also engaged in a veteran's peer support group having last been seen February 2, 2017. Additionally, VA records noted that, “SM was seen for individual psychotherapy on 30 January 2017 when primary issues discussed were involved around recent

As mentioned by Howitt (2015), a mental illness can be defined as ‘a variety of psychological conditions in which there is a characteristic disabling and distressing impairment in some aspect of the psychological functioning of the individual.’ However, not all mental illnesses are found to be at risk of violent offending. Such illnesses as anxiety and depression are found to be less violent than mental health problems such as bipolar and schizophrenia, both of which will be included in the subset of mental health problems recognised as violent for the purpose of this essay. The relationship that has been identified between mental illness and crime has the ability to be misconceived through misclassification of violent mentally ill offenders and a variety of factors which have the ability to cloud the evidence of the

It has been reported that the number of people with mental disorder is increasing in our communities at an alarming rate. Environmental and social changes are among the most mentioned causes of the accelerating rate of mental illness in society (Häfner, 1985). Despite the prevalence, about one fifth of the adult population will battle with mental illness every year ("Facts and figures about mental illness," 2014) and the acknowledgement of authorities mental illness is still given less attention then is needed to treat the problem successfully. Health bodies need to be putting more resources into this area as