United States: Mentally Ill Mistreated in Prison

[Judi Lynn]

United States: Mentally Ill Mistreated in Prison
More Mentally Ill in Prison Than in Hospitals
(New York, October 22, 2003) Mentally ill offenders face mistreatment and neglect in many U.S. prisons, Human Rights Watch charged in a report released today.

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"Prisons have become the nation’s primary mental health facilities. But for those with serious illnesses, prison can be the worst place to be."
Jamie Fellner
Director, U.S. Program of Human Rights Watch

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One in six U.S. prisoners is mentally ill. Many of them suffer from serious illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression. There are three times as many men and women with mental illness in U.S. prisons as in mental health hospitals.
The rate of mental illness in the prison population is three times higher than in the general population.

According to the 215-page report, Ill-Equipped: U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness, prisons are dangerous and damaging places for mentally ill people. Other prisoners victimize and exploit them. Prison staff often punish mentally ill offenders for symptoms of their illness – such as being noisy or refusing orders, or even self-mutilation and attempted suicide. Mentally ill prisoners are more likely than others to end up housed in especially harsh conditions, such as isolation, that can push them over the edge into acute psychosis.

“Prisons have become the nation’s primary mental health facilities,” said Jamie Fellner, director of Human Rights Watch’s U.S. Program and a co-author of the report. “But for those with serious illnesses, prison can be the worst place to be.” (snip/...)

http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/10/us102203.htm

[liberalnurse]

1. If we had a more aggresive and effective

mental health program within our communities, we would not have these folks in prison. A greater family access to mental health services in a proactive, affordable veneue would greatly reduce this prison delimma.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

2. Considering this and the fact that we actually medicate the insane

for the purpose of executing them so they'll know what's happening to them, we try juvies as adults for the purpose of being able to execute them and have the largest per capita prison population in the industrialized world, I'd say that the USA is without doubt the largest human rights violator in the world today.

The present mindset of PUNISH-PUNISH-PUNISH is not only cruel, but it is a major player in the bankrupting of America (both Spiritually and financially). Our laws have become rediculous. A person can do more time for driving three times with a BAC of .01% in many states, and marijuana users? Again, they would get less time for manslaughter in many cases.

The poor don't stand a chance. If the laws were straight across the board and based on what they're doing with the Enron and other white collar criminals, a robber who stole $100.00 would be forced to give back $10.00 and then spend a day at the country club.

Oops. Kinda got off track here... Sorry.

[Malva Zebrina]

3. You would be surprised to see that many of these unfortunates

are , in fact, in nursing homes. There is no where else they can be admitted. I do not think there are many treatment facilites or hospitals for the mentally ill since they have been almost eliminataed and since the arrival of psychotropic medicines. So they end up in nursing homes if they are in crisis. The way we treat our compromised , elderly and ill people is a horror and something to be ashamed of.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

4. kick

:kick: