After my husband's 1st mental health diagnosis at only 6 years old, he has suffered a myriad of other issues; he has struggled to keep a daily determined schedule for medication management and after a downward spiral off of medication, my husband attempted self-medicating with other substances which ALWAYS led back to the same place: Prison.

 

My husband wants to be well- he wants to live a successful life and he has (on multiple occasions) attempted to reach out for help (hospital visits, state funded facilities, even private rehabilitation centers) but he always ended up discouraged by 'roadblocks' to his success. 

Finally, he found a Christian founded facility for men that specialized in individualized care for his dual diagnoses, only to be summoned to court to appear for traffic violations he foolishly recieved before he voluntarily began the intensive, residential treatment facility- a continuous on the court date was denied so after obtaining a mleave from his facility, he appeared in court only to be detained for circumstances that occured before the traffic violations.

 

I promised my husband that if he truly decided to get help that people would also help him. 

He was held at traffic court for alledged "offenses" in which occured AFTER retaining an attorney in attempts to guide my husband in the right direction with the authority of his guardian. Had the guardianship been granted OR an appropriate intervention made, ALL of the events following up to his arrest WOULD HAVE MOST DEFINITELY BEEN AVOIDED COMPLETELY (saving tax payers' money along with many other circumstsnces which can in NO way be held accountable by a person with the mental capacity my husband was in at the time the 'alledged offenses' occured). He was taken from the treatment center to traffic court and then held in the Taylor County jail for WEEKS with a bond of $22,500 property or 15%cash with a bondsman- and only to bond back out for completion of his intense, residential rehabilitation program. 

NATHANAEL ONLY WANTED TO RETURN TO HIS TREATMENT FACILITY- but due to the inaccessibility of having his bond signed for so many days, his spot in Penfield Addiction Ministries was not available after the final bond papers were signed- 

It would have costed our family around/about $10,000 just for a completed 6 week treatment- after having to pay Monroe County jail $900 just to BOND him for MEDICAL TREATMENT.

THE POLICE CHASED MY HUSBAND ON A MOTORCYCLE AT OVER 130MPH THREW MULTIPLE COUNTIES- he had multiple broken bones, an infected fish hook lodged into his knee and COVID19 when entering Monroe County jail- I paid $900 jist so he could post bond and Taylor County jail could pick him up- or one of other 'alledged' holds would......but NONE of the other counties would even consider picking him up.....TIL he was OFFICIALLY deemed incapacitated and weeks into his 6 week treatment facility.

 

 

Mental health is unfortunately not a subject with enough awareness, in many rural areas. If there had been strong legal intervention with mental health as the central focus, my husband and many others could have avoided the extra mental illnesses that have accompanied the sadness of institutionalization. It is so sad that 1 in 3 Americans have a criminal background and America houses more citizens in prison systems than ANY other country in the world but we are "the land of the free??" Prisons are not fit for mental health treatment. PTSD, Bipolar Disorder, Depressive Disorder, Anxiety Disorder and ADHD are real conditions and have real consiquences when left untreated. I was told by a very influential law enforcement officer that out of all of the disorders I just named tgat none of them are 'real' mental illnesses- only bi-polar disorder is considered a 'real' mental illness. I have found that they are all quite 'real' and depending on the severity, a person who suffers these illnesses can really struggle to 'live a normal life:' so a strong support sytem is essential.Instead of spending thousands of dollars on housing these helpless individuals in prison systems, allow the people to be a part of society- be their friend, encourage them, invite them to church and dinner- etc. Help support their families by helping them to be accountable. Don't judge a person based on their criminal history- 1 out of 3 people in this country has a criminal history to some degree. Let them work and see a judge or police officer each day just to say "did you take your medication today?" 

 

There are more sufferers of mental illness than what many people even have the capacity to realize and it seems unimportant until it becomes YOUR friend, parent, sibling or child develops a disorder seemingly out of nowhere- I believe that people should work together to prevent institutionalization from happening to our loved ones in and for the future. I believe if people work together, coming up with alternate solutions to avoid incarceration is totally possible because with therapy and proper medication management, not only can mental illness be well managed and the person live a productive life- but it will in fact win one of the biggest wars that humanity has ever seen:

The war on drugs

Most sufferers of mental illness self medicate because they just 'want to feel better-' Establishing mental health awareness and promoting its treatment will quickly change the world and save several lives. 

 

20% of inmate in county jails and 15% in prison systems have diagnosed mental illness (who kmows the numbers of ones not even diagnosed)says the treatment advocacy center. 44 states in the United States house more mentally ill citizens than the LARGEST remaining state psychiatric hospital....... Prisons systems profit more money than ANY business in the world- even more than illegal crime operations! The harsh, immoral environment of some prison systems are literally dehumanizing human beings.

 

If my husband had have been accountable to take his medication and go to therapy, there is no telling the difference the outcome would have been like. There are many more who have such a similar story. Mentally ill are usually defined as 'defiant,' 'hard headed,' 'nothing but trouble,' etc...but the sad part is they are truly just Misunderstood(like the Lil Wayne song says)- and many times that is due to the condition they suffer with in their mind that others are unable to see from their appearance......