A number of large, hardbound books can be found at most County Clerks’ offices bearing the title, Drunkards, Lunatics, and Spendthrifts. Notwithstanding the fact that most people could fit into one or more of these categories at various times, these books remind us that mental illness is not a recent phenomenon.
The books point to a time when records were kept of people who were so undependable as to have an entry in a book at the county courthouse. While businesses needed to protect themselves from such people, the people themselves were generally considered harmless, and lived among the general population. That is, until they did something that made people think they were dangerous. In those cases, there were procedures for having such people committed to institutions.
These days, a lot has changed. For one thing, state hospitals that treat the mentally ill, the insane asylums of yore, are nearly empty. There are still plenty of people committed to institutions because they have mental illness. They do not live in asylums, but rather prisons.
More than half of all prisoners in the United States suffer from mental illness. According to Senator Dick Durban of Illinois, “Cook County Jail is not only the largest facility treating the mentally ill in our state; it is the third largest mental health facility in the nation.” Wait. A jail? Isn’t that where they put lawbreakers?
Those who suffer from mental illness often run afoul of the law. Sometimes mentally ill people are attempting to self-medicate. This behavior gets them in trouble with drug laws. Sometimes they are unable to comply with orders from law enforcement officers. The number of mentally ill people killed by peace officers is increasing.
The question is when did having a mental illness become a crime? True, some mentally ill –people resist treatment, refuse their medicine, and are otherwise intractable, but these people typically end up in institutions anyway. Of real concern are those who cannot get treatment or afford the drugs that allow them to function in society. These people are the ones who are increasingly filling jails and prisons.
Back during the Reagan years, the funding for institutions like state hospitals was cut, resulting in the discharge of many patients who really needed to be institutionalized. These patients often joined the ranks of the homeless. Funding for community-based programs that treated mental illness and drug addiction were also cut, leaving mentally ill and drug-addicted patients to their own devices. Many go untreated.
Now these people are crowding our prisons. Americans incarcerate more people per capita than any other Western nation, and they pay handsomely to do so. Surely, treating mental illness and drug addiction is cheaper than incarcerating people.
Mentally ill and drug addicted people are not freeloaders. They are the members of society who have the least resources to take care of themselves. The American ethos calls for people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. What happens when they have no bootstraps?
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Comments: 61
Mainly, the desintutionalization that began in the late 70s with "these people can fend very well for themselves" which really was an excuse to free up land, resources and people, but sometime actually did help some people who could function well on their own in the mental health clinics - but now, prisons are the only major instution left where people otherwise bereft of their own resources can be insitutaionalized.
The definition criminally insane, SHOULD only be used for people who committed heinous crimes while being seriously mentall ill. It should never be used for people who are ill and homeless. But I gather it is being used for just that.
I see a society so far removed from the 70s and 70s and 80s,a society in fact very close to the dark days of te 40s and 50s in so many ways.
But the cetnral point remains. I have never been much a fan of Dupont's Better Living Through Chemistry, despite my parents' profession as pioneer neuropharmacologists and despite a few family members who still believe that - and who take scripts and smoke cigarettes, too - but...
We opt as a society for the most convenient method at hand. These days, that is write a script and hope it works. if there are side effects, too bad. The person was damaged to begin with.
If they do something outside of society's bounds, too bad. There are instutitions to take care of that.
Nobody wants to deal with these things in their back yard. Prisons used to be the last resort. Now they are practically the only resort of institution.
Glad to see the article was still around somewhere.
Obviously, $$$ is at the bottom of most issues in this country, since $$$, above all things, is the one "value system" our society most honors and agrees upon. (we seem to be in disagreement, about nearly everything else)
I doubt that it's cheaper to send mentally ill people to prison, than it is to effectively treat them, and/or support them for life, on disability comp.
And I'm sure that's WHY so many are ending up in prison, and/or on the streets. This society always considers the $$$ first, and therefore, will always choose the CHEAPEST option!
I think the assumption is, that in the long run, all such people will DIE SOONER in prisons or on the streets. And BURYING the mentally ill, is the CHEAPEST option of all. (actually, in many states, such people are cremated, and their ashes used to fertilize parks and other public areas...so as far as our society is concerned, this is about all the "worth" these people have - to be used as FERTILIZER!)
Things will only get worse, as our values continue to deteriorate and $$$ becomes more and more the ONLY "law of the land". (we're nearly there, now)
Really, a 2012 "end of the world" scenario, might be the ONLY thing that can fix it! (since WE are not willing to)
GT
There is no solution
we human beings are pollution...
Nowdays we're just trash
and no one cares to pick us up.
Those to whom medications do not work, or work properly enough t ensure ones freedoms.
I completely agree that for the most, proper treatment could stop many of the responsibilities that coincide with the mentally ill.
However, that said, I’ve seen time and time again, the mentally ill…during a time when their medications needed altering (which can be quite frequently) that were not a direct threat, but caused irrefutable damage to others.
Unless wielding a knife or weapon and a clear and visible threat to themselves or others, nothing will be done…even if they have children.
On more than one occasion I saw a family member have raw issues from the past, come flying forth to be pushed on to the children. (ie; sexual abuse, battery etc) and though I attempted to communication with her psychologist, to report the mental variation, I was told;
“Patient doctor confidentiality”.
Even calling in the department of children and families did little, as they too were partially bound. Said family member would be ‘called’ in advance of their supposed ‘surprise’ visit, and manage to pull it together…slightly. The DCF worker would admit seeing, possible dangers, but in accordance with working with the psychologist, was limited in actions.
There needs to be more monies allotted for aiding and assisting, but I am not sure if more freedoms would aid, or hinder those suffering from what is most often, a simple (well not maybe simple) chemical imbalance.
Proper monitoring, along with, proper medical treatment, may help turn the tables for those suffering.
JIMHO
treat the mentally ill. Especially since they had to have a viiolent streak to get there in the first place. But maybe not. Maybe they figured it was the best way to get a roof over their head and a square meal.
It doesn't appear that anytime soon society will change their position either. Mental health is mainly treated in out patient clinics with drugs. Although, there are a few instituions around that handle schizophrenics and then halfway houses to house them
until they become ill or die. (or have to go back to the institution where they came from)
I doubt the government will fund a mental health program, except for limited benefits
for those lucky few who have health insurance that covers mental health.
When the "homeless" are in the hundreds of thousands, that is a sad, sad commentary on what we value in this country.
Wilka
When I was a cop in Atlanta back in the 70s if we picked up a person who needed help we sent them to the local hospital for observation and hopefully help. Problem was after the evaluation period we would see them back on the street once again. So it was basically a revolving door, we sent them back they would evaluate then release them once again without helping them.
Sad...
:O\
1) We will never achieve success in prison management (or reform) until we decide to manage it nationally.
A) We need a goal set: We can't decide if we are reforming "criminals," Isolating "criminals" or punishing them. We would perhaps need to determine what the target is, and then put a plan in place to manage the issue.
B) When it is better on the inside than the outside (3 hots and a cot; and I've already got fam inside vs. on the street with no visible means of support?) why not commit the crime? We need to vamp up our "out of prison" possibilities for the younger offenders.
2) Mental illness costs the country a lot of cash. Cash is king. Mental illness is not untreatable, in many instances...people can function in the world with a little help, and someone monitoring their dosages. This then, dives down into that abyss you're talking about Ms. Anne....what do we really value.
Damn Ronald Regan for closing the facilities that started the higher level of homelessness in the US. So many of those folks were doing better, with some supervision and a drug therapy plan. Holding down jobs, having a life...
But the savings (as you say here) outweighed the value of these lives.
Shame on us for not reversing that for 20+ years.
Wilka
Americans for the most part are an independent lot - we are brought up to 'fend for ourselves' as a badge of honor, where in other societies, being a part of a functioning group is considered much more worthwhile and desirable. Look at the furor over possible 'socialism' concerning healthcare in this country...it has taken this independent spirit thing to a hideous extreme.
I remember when the mental institutions were shut down by Reagan - I was in college and was employed in a city PT. There was a huge mental health facility that was closed in the area and each night the patients would roam the streets, banging on doors. If someone called the police, they were picked up, kept for the night and released. I think nowadays, they would probably be charged and sent to prison as you point out, Ann.
It is a shameful thing - one of the richest countries in the world discarding their own people like trash.
No one believes that we should just let mentally ill people who commit crimes run the streets, but if they need treatment, a prison is not the place to give it to them. In fact it is the wrong place to send them.
The point is that they are getting in trouble because they are not receiving treatment and supervision, because we the people are too tight-fisted to help them.
Many are in prison for the free room and board as well as those that nobody wants to see or to take care of.
What other reasons are there for prisons other than for schooling in crime.
These mentally ill persons need treatment and not jail. How does that help to place them with criminals?
Not right!
Off the meds! I am a psycho b*tch on steroids.
My best friend has a brother who is schizophrenic... he won't take his meds. He is so paranoid he is scary. He has threatened all of us at one time or another. But no one can have him commited anywhere without his permission, unless he does something. Isn't it too late if we wait until 'he does something?' I dont' get that mindset.
I remember in the 90s when I was first diagnosed... my doctor wouldn't even put it down in my charts. It was a fireable condition. And a no hire condition. He warned me not to tell anyone or it could really mess up my life (like it wasn't messed up as it was). Also they stopped calling them 'nervous breakdowns' - the are acute depressive incidents.
Whatever, I've had 3 such meltdowns and they sure feel like a breakdown of something.
Mental illness is real and it can be devastating. It can also be a condition that one can live in society with. The proper treatment of the mentally ill is society's responsiblity. We have the means. We only lack the will. Thank the right for another irresposible act.
So, you're right Sheryl, many people don't see mental illness as something real and they should. I'm sure you kow that the cure for these folks is not just a matter of "getting a hold of yourself". These folks have had some life experience or experiences, or have a chemical imbalance, or a combination that has affected the way they think and the way they feel. They need help and we need protection from some of them.