Mental Health Care In Prison

Although not acknowledged as much as it should be mental health plays a large role around correctional facilities. For many reasons people suffering from all varieties of mental illnesses are put at a disadvantage before they ever even are in trouble with the law or put into jails and prisons, especially once a mentally ill person is imprisoned. In many aspects reform of mental health care in and outside of prisons could drastically decrease the unfairness of punishments and treatments they face in the legal system.
Of course people with mental illness that are incarcerated obviously are affected the most in these situations, but they’re not the only ones taking a toll by imprisoning them. A large majority of people who suffer from mental …show more content…
The difference between the system and the actual people suffering from inadequate treatment is that the system is only losing a small percentage of their overall money while the mentally ill are losing their mental health. By this I mean people subjected to prison life not only do prisoners have a much higher chances of gaining mental disorders they never once had, but also making it far worse for the ones already suffering. ”The author reports that the prevalence of mental disorders among prisoners is at least five times the rate in the general population, that a large proportion of inmates with serious mental disorders are ignored by the clinical staff, and that those who do receive treatment do not receive adequate attention. In addition, harsh prison conditions cause even more inmates to experience breakdowns or commit suicide; inadequate diagnosis and treatment of mental illness also leads to more severe and chronic cases” (Prison Madness: The Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars and What We Must Do About It). Not only should the majority of these people already experiencing issues not be here in the first place, but once incarcerated they end up worse off than before they were even stuck in there. With the ignorance of mental health on top of bad treatment it can often make these prisoners literally go insane or commit suicide making things way worse to deal with for everyone involved. Plus because of the abuse and isolation people who never even had signs of any mental illnesses start showing symptoms of things commonly seen from people suffering from depression or anxiety. Even without sending people that need mental health care to places that provide it, it would be so beneficial to improve psychiatric help inside of prisons. This way everyone in need could be diagnosed and they’d have a chance of recovery