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Post by Admin on Jun 15, 2015 9:52:23 GMT -4
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Post by Marvin Uthaman on Jun 16, 2015 10:10:11 GMT -4
I found this article very enlightening when considering the balance between government and health care in our country today. It was interesting to see how as early as the 1950’s there was a desire to change the course of how mentally ill individuals should be treated in society and that the government has resisted efforts to incorporate these patients into society due to monetary demands. It is important that issues such as this become part of a public dialogue so that abuse and mistreatment of human beings can be stopped. Imprisonment is their punishment; mental illness should not be punishable.
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Post by Naho Hattori on Jun 16, 2015 17:48:43 GMT -4
A common misconception is that mental illness and violence or criminal behaviors are closely linked. It is important to know that only some of serious violent offenders are mentally ill and majority were “crimes of survival”. I wasn’t aware that the situations for the mentally ill have been increasingly difficult over the years. In a case of Demetorio, there was a 8 months gap between the time he was released from the prison and an appointment arranged at a community mental health clinic. He wasn’t medicated when he was arrested on battery charges. The US doesn’t have a national mental health system and the mental health spending has a downward trend and moreover, the number of mental health clinics has decreased. I strongly agree that treatment, therapy and education for the mentally ill need to be carefully reviewed and implemented in our country.
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Post by Rachel Miranda on Jun 16, 2015 21:10:50 GMT -4
While prisons are trying to provide support for the mentally ill they are not equipped to manage treatment plans effectively. There are an overwhelming amount of inmates suffering from mental illness. And while, staff are receiving mental illness treatment training this may not be sufficient. That is not to say that jails are not providing a beneficial service. Rather, these services are limited in their scope. Life after incarceration may not support readily available psychiatric medication and therapies. These treatments can be costly, and without referrals to outside psychiatric treatment centers many will fall through the cracks. In order to adhere to mental health treatment plans inmates need to be provided with the tools to succeed.
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Post by obinnabaribe on Jun 16, 2015 21:11:19 GMT -4
I wouldn't say i'm very familiar with the judiciary system in the united states and how it relates to those with mental illnesses. This article definitely gave me a thorough insight. I didn't think i will have time to make it to the end but i was especially drawn in by the inmates individual stories. Whoever came up with "The Mental health Transition center" was right on track. It serves as an effective way of re-emerging these people back in the community, so i wouldn't be surprised at the success rate it has so far. My thought's will be to preserve it's productiveness. If these Inmates are able to find jobs and enroll in schools eventually, the crime rate should decline. Mental illness symptoms sometimes can be confused with criminal behavior, it makes one ponder over who the real victims are. The thought that some of these inmates commit crimes purposely to be incarcerated so they can receive treatment is disheartening. it is definitely a subject that needs to be looked into. Mental illnesses are worsened by stress, losing access to treatment can lead to a loss of employment, housing, and freedom - "an added stressor".
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Post by Kiran Jose on Jun 17, 2015 6:39:07 GMT -4
The article was an eye opener for me. It is just saddening to see that people turn themselves in just to get treatment. A good portions of them who are in jail with mental illness who committed crimes, don't even realize that they need help, and not punishment to treat their symptoms. It is just their cry for help. I hope better health system will be available in future for this group of people who are neglected/abused in the society. There are lot of cultures that do not recognize mental illness as a medical condition. Where people are alienated and abused for their "inappropriate behaviour" in public. As mentioned in the article, individuals with mental illness were abused constantly in jail. How does that help their situation? They just get worse over time, and end up in a vicious cycle.
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Post by Anoop Loke on Jun 17, 2015 11:30:46 GMT -4
It is disappointing to learn the level of care inmates with mental illness receive in the United States. Even though, they are probably receiving better care compared to other countries, it is expected of a first world country to provide basic healthcare for the ill. It was shocking to read that the, actions of an untreated mentally ill person are perceived as criminal activity. The inmates who suffer from a psychiatric illness might be getting treatment when they are incarcerated, but once they get out they are left untreated. I can understand the inmates frustration with this never ending circle. It is sad to see that it is easier for the ex-inmates to have access to street drugs to provide symptomatic relief for their condition rather than proper treatment. This in turn could be a violation for their parole and result in their re-incarceration. I feel the conditions that the inmates are housed under is no place to heal the mind.
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Post by Sheel Chokshi on Jun 17, 2015 15:13:09 GMT -4
While reading this article, I could help but notice the constant up hill battle that each person had to deal with in order to receive proper mental health care. Many doctors stress the importance of continuity of care in order to ensure patient safety and and quality of care. This is near impossible for all those mentioned in the article. For example, Demetrio who in the article stated that without his medication, he'd be a whole different person. While in Cook County Jail, he was able to receive all his medications and that ended as soon as he was let out. He wasn't able to get an appointment for 9 months, without his medication, he was back in jail by the following spring. If these gaps were filled with adequate care, someone like Demetrio would've never ended up back there. Meanwhile, as he sits in jail with proper treatment, he is unable to take full advantage of all the opportunities available to him.
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Post by Biby Babu on Jun 17, 2015 15:43:54 GMT -4
This article illustrates the sluggish approach to mental health in our society. Part of this has to do with the lack of awareness and education on how to manage a patient with mental health issues: Ford quotes, “When people become symptomatic with acute mental illness, a lot of times those behaviors look criminal. And we have done an excellent job of criminalizing people with mental illness” (2015).
The majority of the offenders are booked for minor offenses. Reading further into this story, one can see that these offenses are “crimes of survival,” shoplifting for food, breaking and entering for shelter, and other offenses that mimic actions of a symptomatic mental health patient, rather than a born criminal.
The question is, “What can we do for them?” Mental health needs to be addressed with medication and therapy, and jailed patients (and I say patients, not prisoners) are not exempt from this. Cook County jail have initiated measures to screen for mental health while in the system, but what about preventative measures? How can we look for signs and symptoms, manage the episodes and prevent mental health patients from being sucked into the system? The tax dollars we spend to maintain prisons need to be allocated to fund mental health screening starting from an early age (public schools), as we see more and more Anti-social Personality D/Os stemming from ODD and Conduct D/Os.
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Post by Sunaina Mangina on Jun 17, 2015 19:08:59 GMT -4
This article has definitely given me a glimpse into much ignored horrors of prisons and the state of mind of the society regarding mental illness. It easy to sympathize with words but many of us cannot truly understand unless we go through something similar with ourselves or with our loved ones. The only way i think we can change this revolting treatment towards mentally ill people is to change our attitudes and create more awareness about how important treatment is rather than punishment especially in the high class and educated groups because they are the ones who hold the keys to change. I couldn't understand why the judge remanded Mr. Pierre on a $100,000 bail bond for a crime like a retail theft given his socioeconomic status and his pleas, it defeats the purpose of having a system for the society. It's upsetting to see a lot of money wasted on arresting the same people over and over instead of understanding the situation and finding a more stable solution. Is strongly support such programs as the pilot program at the Mental Health Transition Center because they will help gather statistics for a need for change and help to the people in need.
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Post by MINH QUACH on Jun 17, 2015 22:47:04 GMT -4
The article gave a good glimpse of how the Mental Hospitals and institutions have changed over the years. After reading the article I am shock to hear of the high number of mental hospitals and mental health clinics that is out there helping those people with psychiatric problems. I am also surprise to hear of the high number of psychiatric patients that are admitted to these institutions. The main problems that I noticed why these institutions did not work at first is mainly because of lack of funding and budget cuts. These cuts in funding basicailly turn the whole idea of helping and maintaining treatment of those mentally-ill patients upside down. The idea of the Pilot Program at the Mental Health Transition Center seems to be headed in the right directions. I like the idea that it is split up into 2 phases, in which the first phase last 6 weeks which helps them in reducing recidivism and the 2nd phase helps the patients with relearning skills and job-readiness training. Although the Pilot Program is still somewhat new, the results thus far seems promising. I believe this program is heading in the right direction provided we continue with the right funding and budget.
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Post by Dr Antin on Jun 18, 2015 8:47:35 GMT -4
Good analyses so far. For political and financial reasons, society has shifted the care of the mentally ill from hospitals to the criminal system. This is both ineffective and costly. A huge burden on our infrastructure. The stigma of mental illness persists
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Post by David Vera on Jun 18, 2015 9:39:31 GMT -4
After reading this article, it is very surprising the amount of inmates with mental illnesses that are currently in the United States. When these patients were at the community, many of them treated themselves with illegal drugs that were able to comfort their particular psychiatric disorder. For example, those with bipolar disease and schizophrenia used heroine, to control their sleeping patterns. After becoming imamates, patients are evaluated and stabilize with approved drugs, but many of them fail to comply with the outpatient therapy. These inmates need a proper follow up in order to decrease the likelihood of recurrence. We can see this situation reflected in Demetrio who in the article stated that without his medication he is a different person and if he will be on his med probably he will not return to the jail. I believed that people with mental illness have been criminalized and the majority of the mentally ill population is convicted due to minor offenses. So we need reevaluate how our correctional system manages mental illness and need to evolve in order to achieve the goal of the correctional system that is to avoid individuals continues with the same conduct.
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Post by Shfali Bhandari on Jun 18, 2015 9:40:45 GMT -4
As I was going through this article, all I could think of was how all the majority of crimes today, such as the shooting during the Batman premiere or any major crime committed all relates back to the lawyer defending their client as “mentally ill.” Being mentally ill is such a loose term that can be just thrown around, though in some cases it is definitely true, but in some it can bejust an excuse. Coming back to the article it was really interesting how this article focused on how a lot of these crimes were crimes of survival. When crimes are committed, I never look to see why, I always assume what I feel majority of people assume. What I don’t stop and think about is majority of these criminals have aspirations just like we do and with proper funding for therapy or some sort of group therapy, a lot of these inmates can see how many inmates are going through some of the same mental illness and light can be brought to the situation.
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Post by Biju Babu on Jun 18, 2015 10:46:57 GMT -4
I thought this article was an eye opener. I expected many people to be jailed due to mental illnesses as we have all heard quite often on the news, but I did not expect them to be disregarded completely and passed off as hopeless and helpless. As a society, I believe that in order to grow, we must treat these illnesses rather than toss them out and care less. I can understand that some people care less because it is not affecting them or the people they love, but it must also be understood that we will never grow as a society without these changes. Therapy, both medically and cognitively, should be assessed on each and every patient in Cook County jail. I also see how some people will turn to "crimes of survival" to get by with the growing poverty population in the United States, and the government must do more than Food Stamps and other aids, as we can spend millions on things we do not need.
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