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Serious Mental Illness In Psychiatric Prisons

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What are Psychiatric Prisons Psychiatric hospitals, otherwise known as mental hospitals, mental health units, mental asylums or simple asylums, are hospitals or wards that specialize in the treatment of serious mental illness, such as clinical depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Psychiatric prisons are the same idea except they are designed for people with mental illnesses who have committed a crime of some sort. If a person is found NCR (not criminally responsible) then they are sent to Psychiatric prisons instead of normal prisons. Inside psychiatric prisons there are people that are specially trained and have gone to school to help people who are struggling with mental illness. For example a Psychiatrist. Psychiatry is …show more content…

If 20 percent of them had a serious mental illness, that would make a total of approximately 149,000 jail inmates with a serious mental illness (How Many Individuals with Serious Mental Illness are in Jails and Prisons?). In 2011 there were 1,382,418 inmates in state prisons. If 15 percent of them had a serious mental illness, that would make a total of approximately 207,000 state prison inmates with a serious mental illness (How Many Individuals with Serious Mental Illness are in Jails and Prisons?). If the number of jail and state prison inmates with a serious mental illness in america were added together, they total approximately 356,000 inmates (How Many Individuals with Serious Mental Illness are in Jails and Prisons?). Since there are only approximately 35,000 individuals with serious mental illness remaining in state mental hospitals, there are now 10 times more individuals with serious mental illness in jails and state prisons than there are in state mental hospitals (How Many Individuals with Serious Mental Illness are in Jails and Prisons?). The nation’s jails and prisons are used as dumping grounds for people with mental illnesses (How Many Individuals with Serious Mental Illness are in Jails and Prisons?). Many people who are sent to prison instead of being sent to psychiatric hospitals are more likely to die while in prison …show more content…

Waypoint is the province’s only high security for people in the justice system. They are recognized for the provision of exceptional care for those most needing mental health services and for its contributions to the understanding of mental illness. To do this, they provide specialized and comprehensive assessment and treatment to individuals suffering from severe mental illness using best clinical practices based on the latest advances in scientific research, patient care, and treatment (Waypoint). “[Waypoint centre for mental health] specialize in mental health and addiction services from adolescents to seniors in a safe, respectful and community-based environment ... [They] are dedicated to providing patients with the tools necessary to achieve recovery, discover their potential and hope for a brighter tomorrow”

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Their are around 500,000 mentally ill people that are put away in prisons and jails. In the documentary “The New Asylums”,Ohio's state prison system reveals the issues that are ongoing with mentally ill inmates. The major problem we have today is that no one is taking care of the people of these people. Most mentally ill people live by themselves with no family or friends to take care of them and they are off their medications. The mentally ill come in to prison on non violent offenses such as disturbing the peace, trespassing, etc. After leaving mental hospitals they usually end up on the streets and become homeless.

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“Many cultures have viewed mental illness as a form of religious punishment or demonic possession. In ancient Egyptian, Indian, Greek, and Roman writings, mental illness was categorized as a religious or personal problem (“"Mental Health Hospitals and Deinstitutionalization”).” This quote shows that even in the ancient civilizations, people viewed mentally ill people as being “possessed” but really it was the lack of understanding and religious fervor that led to this conclusion. Some of the treatments they used were, “Priests often solaced mentally disturbed individuals by encouraging them to repent their sins and seek refuge in God’s mercy (Foerschner, par. 2).” They would make them go to church regularly, and go on holy pilgrimages to

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The shift is attributed to the unexpected clinical needs of this new outpatient population, the inability of community mental health centers to meet these needs, and the changes in mental health laws (Pollack & Feldman, 2003). Thousands of mentally ill people flowing in and out of the nation 's jails and prisons. In many cases, it has placed the mentally ill right back where they started locked up in facilities, but these jail and prison facilities are ill-equipped to properly treat and help them. In 2006 the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated that there were; 705,600 mentally ill inmates in state prisons, 78,000 in federal prisons, and

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Web. 15 Oct. 2015. Recently, the issue of treating mentally ill inmates while they serve time for the crimes they committed has become a very prevalent topic (Glazer n.pag.). Because budget cuts have caused many mental health institutions to shut down, court and law officials have been led to place these mentally ill offenders in jails that do not have the equipment and staff necessary to help treat them (Glazer n.pag.). Instead, the mentally ill offenders are simply placed in solitary confinement, causing their condition or illness to worsen over time (Glazer n.pag.).

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The American Psychiatric Association estimated in 2000 that one in five prisoners were seriously mentally ill, with up to 5 percent actively psychotic at any given moment. In 1999, the statistical arm of the Justice Department estimated that 16 percent of state and federal prisoners and inmates in jails were suffering from mental illness. These illnesses included schizophrenia, manic depression (or bipolar disorder) and major depression.

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The gradual growth of interest in mental health resulted in deinstitutionalization, or the discharge of prison and asylums in the 1960’s. This resulted in the development of new medication and ways to treat mental illness (Simmons, 1990). This changed allowed the once permanent patients of the asylums to be released into society into the care of their loved ones (Newman, 1998). However, this was unsuccessful as the government did not develop and improve community services.

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What can be done The monitoring, prevention and treatment of mental disorders, as well as the promotion of good mental health, are part of the public health goals in prisons. According to World Health Organization (2017), even in resource-limited countries, measures can be taken to improve the mental health of prisoners and prison staffs, which can be adapted to the country’s cultural, social, political and economic environment (WHO, 2017). In the British prisons, some practices and policies have also been implemented, which reflect the positive impacts of prisoners’ mental health and wellbeing. Provide prisoners with appropriate mental health treatment and care.

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Incarcerating people with mental disorder Prison is now America’s new home for mentally ill people. Perhaps, warehouses for the severely mentally people. Two million people who suffer from mental illness are being put behind bars. According to Dahlia Lithwick, “in 2012, approximately, 356,368 inmates with severe mental illness were in prisons and jails, while 35.000 patients severely ill were admitted in state psychiatric hospitals”. She further adds, “Ten times more mentally ill people are now in jails and prisons than in state psychiatric hospitals”.

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Mental Health and Prisons An estimated 450 million people worldwide suffer from mental or behavioral disorders. These disorders are pretty common within prison populations. This extremely high rate of mental disorders in prison is closely related to several factors: the misconception that all people with mental disorders are a danger to the public, the failure to promote treatment, care, and rehabilitation, and the lack of access to mental health services. Many of these disorders are present before prison however, mental health disorders can also be developed during imprisonment due to human rights violations. From overcrowding, various forms of violence, enforced solitude, lack of privacy, concerns about the future, and inadequate health services in prisons its no secret that the mentally ill are mistreated and fallen through the cracks of the system.

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Correspondingly, prioritizing rehabilitation programs in American prison systems would greatly reduce the recidivism rate because of the mental health epidemic in these correctional facilities. Today, somewhere between 15 and 20 percent of people in prison are mentally ill, according to U.S. Department of Justice estimates. "Prisons have really become, in many ways, the de facto mental health hospitals," says former prison psychologist Thomas Fagan, PhD. " But prisons weren't built to deal with mentally ill people; they were built to deal with criminals doing time. "

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More people get incarcerated for non-violent crimes and crimes caused by mental illnesses or drug abuse (Webb, 2009) and because these people get put in regular prisons, instead of in mental health facilities or facilities to help against drug addiction, where they could be treated to further prevent crimes driven by their illness (Webb, 2009), the prisons get overfilled and cannot hold the more ‘important’ prisoners that needed to be locked away from the public. A strong link of the criminal justice process is that the system tries to keep it fair for everyone. Every defendant has the right to an attorney so they can be defended properly and fairly and “Only judges who are adequately informed about a case can effectively control the proceedings and examine evidence” (Tochilovsky, 2002) It is also important for the criminal justice system that those involved show discretion and although this is not always the case, discretion by the judges, police, etc.

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