We have drug courts and some courts are trying out mental health dockets. However addiction is a mental illness.  Although,  the courts use these terms as separate issues and have guidelines for them differently.  What about co-occurring disorders such as substance abuse and mental illness? Why do some get chance after chance after chance? Why is it that some courts don't treat mental illness and addiction as diseases of the brain, such as ptsd is a brain disease as is addiction?

The lack of services for helping people with mental illness including addiction in this country is not readily available to those that can't afford out of pocket expenses or are poor while quality services aren't available or offered to us.

Yet the problems from these disorders are on the rise and are killing people daily maybe 1000s. There are less available beds for rehabs meanwhile drugs are becoming more of a problem while the courts and jails/prison are over populated with mentally ill.

If we all wrote to our state and federal officials maybe we could change something about all this. Treat the symptoms not the illnesses.  Don't jail someone for having a mental illness and are symptomatic because of a co occurring disorder, why not offer help?

If they try and fail don't give up on them. Don't lock them up for years making them institutionalized. Lock them up a bit and try again.  Its discouraging for people. And it cost the country more money jailing them. 

I am a convicted felon who in 2017 had a mental health issue where the police had intervened.  I was charged and convicted of 3 felonies due to their being alcohol in my system even though I clearly had had a mental health issue and so I could not get on the mental health docket.  Yet people can get drug court?

Why are these 2 things viewed separately? Why when addiction is a mental illness is it not all a mental health docket and services provided. The cost of jailing me in a private jail owned by lawyers and judges for 5 months and then prison for 10 months could have probably covered the cost of a quality treatment facility or a wilderness treatment program. 

How about someone I know who spent their whole prison time in that private jail, im sure that cost a ton more than it would have to give her quality services,  housing help, and teach her better skills are possible. 

Or how about the fact that if you don't have a foundation of people to come out to, to help you, you are destined to go back to the same symptoms of the mental illness you were in there for. Especially since when released if on medication, the services are so overwhelmed by people that you run out of medication before getting available appointments.  It sets everyone being released with mental illness up for failure.

Change is possible.  It can be done. Everyone needs people to believe in them and help. Why not speak out about how we need more  services for mentally ill rather than prison time. The courts should be offering more treatment if the treatment was available.