The Impact Of Mental Illnesses . Mental Illnesses Have

As Americans it becomes natural to undermine those with a mental illness. As a fact, many adults and children deal with mental illness each and everyday. There are many stories that have been told to Americans about depression, anxiety, along with bipolar disorders, with the outcome usually being a negative consequence. For the 1 in every 5 citizens that deal with a mental illness each year. Americans have neglected the fact that many adults and children deal with mental issue(s), the citizens that refrain from getting help; their well being can suffer detrimental effects, there is not a lot of awareness either taught in school, or in public perspectives, American’s stigma has perfected their

(2009) argues that “prisoners have a constitutional right to adequate health care, including mental health treatment and the growth of local correctional populations has strained the limited capacity of jails to respond to the health needs of inmates.” The study attempts to provide evidence of high percentages of inmates with severe mental illness while confronting the misconception of the gender disparity that severe mental illness is more prevalent in men. Steadman et al. (2009) believes that determining rates of inmates with mental illness is a first step to begin exploring alternatives to incarceration. “According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, during the 12 months ending at midyear 2007, there were 13 million admissions to local jails in the United States,” highlighted by Steadman et al.

As a whole, literature on the topic of mental illness in our country and specifically in our criminal justice system had a reoccurring theme. There are millions of individuals who suffer from mental illness but are improperly being handled through the criminal justice system. These individuals are deemed criminal just by their acts and their mental health state is not overly examine. Jails and prisons are being overcrowded. State prisons and jails are overpopulated anywhere from 15 to 32% (Spending Money in All the Wrong Places: Jails & Prisons).

Authors in this article from the University of California observe and focus on the risks and rates involved in people that have a mental disorder and correlate it with incarceration as well as people with re-incarceration. While performing these studies researchers found an alarming number of people incarcerated had a severe mental illness and substance abuse issues. Much of the knowledge in numbers of people with a mental illness are brought from a correctional view, but researchers here try to also focus on numbers of people in the public mental health system as well.

Because of their mental illnesses, many of those instatationalized started committing crimes and were jailed. This caused problems for the jail system and probation officers. Officials estimate that there are no checks and balances in place in the New York jail system. Consequently, the courts allow approximately 9,000 people released annually who are suffering from some type of disability (Sheth, 2009). Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice estimates that 21 percent of all prisoners have a recent history of a mental health condition (Glaze & James, 2006). Furthermore, because of their label of being mentally ill, many of those released become homeless, because they cannot find a job to support

In the video, “The New Asylums”, it demonstrated how deinstitutionalization has left thousands of mentally ill patients in the hands of the prison system. As the mental health hospitals closed down, the police department and prison system has become responsible for the mentally ill people that are on the streets. There was a firm point made about the release of mentally ill patients- “When hundreds of thousands of mentally ill are released, they do not magically become healthy. They went to the streets, became homeless, and turned to a system that cannot say no.” The video also stated that today, there are nearly 500,000 mentally ill people being held in jails and prisons throughout the country. Furthermore, there was no safety net for those

The incarceration of those who are mentally ill is on the continual rise. Many states juggle with the decision of placing offenders in Mental Hospital or locating them in State Prisons. Latessa and Holsinger (2011) discuss two major reasons for the increase of those with mental illness within the prison system. First, many states have no longer allow for the insanity plea during criminal trials, thus those who suffer from mental illness are not required to receive mandatory mental treatment. This is due to the discomforting idea that criminal offenders should not be given the same living conditions as those whom are patients of mental wards. Secondly, longer sentences have created a surplus of mentally ill offenders needing treatment. Soderstrom (2007) added that the lack of mental health support systems in

Given the number of incarcerated inmates who suffer from some form of mental illness, there are growing concerns and questions in the medical field about treatment of the mentally ill in the prison system. When a person with a mental illness commits a crime or break the law, they are immediately taken to jail or sent off to prison instead of being evaluated and placed in a hospital or other mental health facility. “I have always wondered if the number of mentally ill inmates increased since deinstitutionalization” Since prison main focus is on the crimes inmates are incarcerated; the actual treatment needed for the mentally ill is secondary. Mentally ill prisoners on the surface may appear to be just difficult inmates depending on the

Deinstitutionalization further exacerbated the situation because, once the public psychiatric beds had been closed, they were not available for people who later became mentally ill, and this situation continues up to the present.

Randle, Michael P., Director of Illinois Department of Corrections. "Mental Illness And Prisons." FDCH Congressional Testimony (n.d.): Military & Government Collection. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.

According to a 2006 Bureau of Justice Statistics report found that over half of the inmates in both prisons and in jails had a problem concerning their mental health (James & Glaze, 2006). The estimates in this report were separated by federal prisons, which contained 45 percent of inmates suffering from mental illness, 56 percent in state prisons, and

Over the past thirty years, there has been a 500% increase in the U.S incarceration rate. (The Sentencing project, 2014) Advances in medicine, such as the discovery of psychoactive drugs, led to the deinstitutionalization of mentally ill patients from psychiatric hospitals. With a long record of horrific abuse,

The growing rate of inmates with mental health disorders in correctional facilities is alarming. 54% state jail. 45% federal

Prisons and jails have become America’s largest provider for mental health services. The Harris County Jail treats more individuals with mental health issues on a daily basis than our state 's 10 psychiatric hospitals combined (Texas Observer). Law enforcement authorities are not meant to care for those who are mentally ill and often lack the resources and expertise to do so. We desperately need to reduce the number of people with mental illness in jails by providing this often overlooked population the mental health services they deserve.

The treatment of mental health has always been a topic of debate and indecision, more recently the stigma surrounding mental health has lessened, but there is still much to be done. The deinstitutionalization of people with mental illness began in the 1960’s, the closure of many poorly run mental hospitals led to many mentally ill turning to the streets or the justice system, having nowhere else to go (Siegel and Bartollas 330). Today, the justice system has become the primary source of care for many mentally ill people. In 2006 it was reported that more than half of all prison and jail inmates reported symptoms that aligned with those of mental health problems (Erickson and Erickson 5). Such high numbers beg the question, “How does the United States Prison system handle such large volumes of mentally ill inmates?”