An estimated one in four of all adult Americans suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year. These mental disorders can range anywhere from mild mood disorders to extreme, uncontrollable cases of schizophrenia. Criminals who have been found guilty of committing a crime may have difficulty with both serving the punishment and recovering from their mental disease because of the sentence given to them. Often times, this sentence is crippling for the mentally ill individuals, as a prison is not an ideal place at all for patients with inner problems-- a prison would actually make the individual’s condition worse. The major problem here arises when these individuals with mental health issues cannot make that progress to better themselves in correctional facilities, or even when they are simply out on the streets as if they were healthy enough to be alone. What is needed for individuals with no idea how to better themselves is a sort of safe-haven where they can feel secure and succeed- such as a mental asylum. Although some individuals believe that funding mental institutions is not worth the time, money, and effort such a project would require, I believe that funding these institutions, bringing in the troubled and mentally ill people found in jails and hospitals, and then releasing them into reality when they are found to be adequately healthy would be a process that is highly beneficial to not just these mentally ill patients, but to society as a whole. Our
