U.S. Prisons Becoming De Facto Home of the Mentally Ill

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by tulianr, Apr 11, 2014.


  1. tulianr

    tulianr Don Quixote de la Monkey

    A new study reveals that prisons in America house ten times as many mentally ill as the state-run psychiatric wards that could actually treat them.

    “If you wanna help, tell the CIA to stop trying to kill me.”

    It’s a familiar line that Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, a psychiatrist who’s spent 40 years studying America's treatment (or lack thereof) of the mentally ill, hears from schizophrenic prison inmates. Prisoners in their own mind with no way out, they wreak havoc at jails across the nation: throwing feces at guards, singing for days on end, battling with the voices in their own heads. Worst of all, they’re alone.

    In a new study by Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC), a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating barriers to treating the mentally ill, Torrey and his colleagues expose just how bleak America’s mental health situation has become. In 2012, an estimated 356,000 mentally ill inmates were being held in state prison, compared to just 35,000 in state-run psychiatric hospitals. In other words, the number of mentally ill people in prisons is ten times that of mentally ill in state-run psychiatric hospitals.

    Torrey’s basic tenet is nauseating: the majority of mentally ill in America are treated like monsters.

    “Being in prison if your brain is working normally can’t be easy, but being in prison when your brain isn’t working normally? It must be a living hell,” Torrey tells me. Torrey has himself borne witness to the locking up of the mentally ill, and he paints a grim picture of the scene. “Some throw feces at the guards, sing all night to keep others awake, assault other inmates out of paranoia that they’re in danger.”

    Torrey began the research for this project over a year ago when a visit to Erie County Jail in Buffalo, New York left him stunned. Upon arrival, he found what he believed to be a paranoid schizophrenic and bipolar inmate who had been sitting in his cell hallucinating for over a year. Without treatment he’d gone ballistic, cutting down tension polls that wiped out electricity in hundreds of homes nearby. Solitary confinement, Torrey says, was likely his next home.

    While TAC’s study—titled The Treatment of Persons With Mental Illness in Prisons and Jails—isn’t the first of its kind, it’s notable for two reasons: it’s the first to analyze the data by state, and it’s the most recent illustration that the problem is growing more acute. Some states, such as New York, operate satellite mental health units, providing treatment to upwards of 16,000 inmates at 28 different state prisons. A 2011 study estimated that of the 12,200 inmates at Riker’s Island, ⅓ of the men and ⅔ of the women are mentally ill.

    The driving force behind the decrease in available beds, and thus reliable care, seems fueled entirely by money. In an effort to save taxpayer dollars, states have been decreasing the number of beds in their psychiatric hospitals for decades. It’s a practice Folley doubts saves any taxpayer money—and, owing to the high cost of prisons, may cost them more. “The idea that we’re saving money by emptying hospitals is a complete myth. Taxpayers are not saving any money this way.”

    A longstanding issue in America, the problem is undoubtedly reaching new highs. During the 50s, the total number of beds in America’s psychiatric state-run hospitals neared 559,000. Today, the number of beds is down to roughly 35,000. With a population almost double what it was in the 50s, this means that the majority of mentally ill are left with two options: jail or the street. “I know of police officers who have stumbled on homeless who are mentally ill and completed debilitated. They put them in jail—just to keep them safe,” Torrey says.

    Among the roadblocks to providing beneficial treatment is getting the prisoners themselves to admit they need help. In 31 states, a provision is in place allowing the prison to forego consent and offer involuntary treatment that includes medicine and therapy. For the other 19, things are more complicated, often requiring a court order and approval from a committee to proceed.

    In the past six months, The White House has displayed an increased concern for the issue. In September, Vice President Joe Biden announced a $100 million plan aimed at increasing the availability of mental health services, a direct result of the increase in mass shootings in America. It’s a smart move. A Gallup poll from September revealed that 48 percent of Americans blame gun violence on our flawed mental health system.

    “Why doesn’t anybody care?” Torrey asks aloud. “That’s more of a political issue. What most people don’t understand is that the great majority of mentally ill in prison don’t need to be there.”

    U.S. Prisons Becoming De Facto Home of the Mentally Ill - The Daily Beast
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  2. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    I bet they could ship many of these mentally challenged individuals to the established FEMA camps and provide them proper mental care.... but then, I suspect, they want to save those bed's for hard working Americans that challenge the establishment.......
    YMMV
    YD
     
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  3. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    Don't those bleeding heart liberals realise that prisons are there for retributive punishment? Any rehabilitation assistance that convicts may get is quite incidental to the primary mission of retributive punishment. Whether sane or insane...do bad stuff, and bad stuff will be done unto you!

    Warehousing the mentally ill in prisons is nothing new...and it's good business for Private enterprise penitentiary investors. However, like many things...evidence based research and decision making has little influence on the decisions that roll out the pork barrels.

    I liked your post tulian, not because I am pleased with the situations these poor devils find themselves, but because it is an issue that is worth bringing attention to. There are quite likely many vets who have become jailed as a consequence of mental illness issues resulting from their service. They deserve better than a jail cell.
     
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  4. stg58

    stg58 Monkey+++ Founding Member

    There was a big movement in the 80's for community based mental healthcare which extended to what was once called "mentally retarded" the libs pushed it with their usual touchy feely vigour saying that the mentally ill had rights and would be provided with better care in the community.
    The result many mental hospitals were closed with an unfunded burden shifting local communities of ill people they were not trained nor equipped to deal with one source of funding being the Social Security system was milked to pay for peoples care many who had never worked much or at all.

    As they were released many had a Guardian ad litem appointed with local mental health care people dealing with an influx of cases that they may never have dealt with. They read their files and may have briefly talked to them in conjunction with the court systems deciding the best care for these individuals in a few hours many who had been in state facilities years or all of their lives often discounting decades of case work done in the state facilities.
    A judge, lawyer and a court appointed mental health care worker decided where these people ended up? Yes.

    Many areas with over taxed resources and political pressure $$$$ simply gave them a place to pick up their meds and Social Security check and turned them loose..The libs started it but the Republicans saw tax savings and went along..

    We all have read about the crimes committed with victims and families horribly changed for ever.

    The system was flawed but not broken and the libs decided to fix it by shutting it down and the mentally ill have suffered along with the communities.
     
  5. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    [​IMG]
    The financial costs (and burden of care) has merely been shifted from the State to other agents / actors: and not necessarily with any real reduction in the cost to the community. However investors in businesses that provide care to the disabled probably do the best out of that model of care.

    Australia has its problems in supporting the de-institutionalised disabled (intellectually, mentally, physically) However, those who receive it, have generally a much better quality of life than when they were warehoused in State Institutions. Australia is making a concerted effort in lifting its game and improving services to the disabled: But like many government programs it requires funding and commitment..

    HealthPolicyMonitor | Surveys| CHERE - Australia| 08| National Action Plan on Mental Health

    Mental health care reform - just won't work without carers! | Carers Australia
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2014
    Yard Dart likes this.
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