THE ISSUE:

The world is no stranger to the mental health epidemic, with 23% of the US population suffering from some form of mental illness. (NIMH, 2022). But within this hidden large number, upwards of 44% of incarcerated individuals have been diagnosed with a mental disorder with 15% of these 44% suffering from an illness as severe as bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and schizophrenia.

With this, thousands of individuals battling with mental health issues resort to a life of crime or delinquency to escape the harsh reality of life and struggle, to try and attempt to make ends meet financially or socially, or to find “peace” through unnecessary violence or aggression. Whether humane or common sense, mental illness tends to blind individuals from their actions in the spur of the moment, only to reenter reality directly after. While crimes are their choice of coping, this does not mean all individuals need to be isolated, sentenced to maximum terms, without some attempt of therapy or rehabilitation. It is not a privilege to be given mental health support, but a human right. Without in-jail counseling, there is a significant increase in risk of self-injurious behaviors or a reversal of previous attempts and effects of therapy or assistance. Just been 2000 and 2019, over 6,000 inmates successfully committed suicide, with thousands of other unrecorded attempts made. (OJP, 2021). 

This is why our jails and prisons need mental health care units, with reallocated funds and better transition programs for incarcerated individuals who are reentering society. Entering struggling offenders back into communities with little social support, transportation, or housing support only increases the risk for recidivism for the offender and threats towards the public. As much as law enforcement tends to appreciate the aspect of long-term incarceration more than short-term rehabilitation, there still needs to be a level of support to ensure offenders (that are not violent/deadly) do not reenter the system. There truly needs to be an equal opportunity for mental health services, even in places of mass or minor incarceration, as it effects not only the individual but the entirety of the prison environment, which is already dreadful as is. 

While jails and prisons house dangerous and perilous individuals, they should still be allowed opportunities for mental stability and individual growth, as well as programs to assist their transition back into a once familiar society, especially one that may not have emphasized mental health care. We need systems that effectively and consistently support mental health in prisons through therapy, psychiatric/tropic medication, crisis intervention and substance abuse, community resources, through programs and methods. 

We urge the lawmakers of our country and prison personnel in every city, county, town and jurisdiction to take action in implementing better mental health care programs within prisons and jails to better not only individuals but the new environments they have entered. Prison environments are stressful and contain the worst sides of offenders, but who’s to say the environment cannot be recycled and renewed with mental health advocacy and therapy? Join us in signing to petition to implement and fund better mental health care in prisons and jails. 

Sources: 

Mental Illness - National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Archived | Nearly a Fifth of State and Federal Prisons had at Least One Suicide in 2019 | Office of Justice Programs‌