Mental Health

You might know . . .

Mental health is a major problem in the United States.

But maybe you’ve never thought about . . .

When publicly funded mental health institutions were shut down—in a process known as deinstitu-tionalization, which took place in the 1970s—jails and prisons increasingly became surrogate mental hospitals for many people with severe mental-health issues. A shocking proportion of incarcerated people experience mental-health issues, and jails and prisons have very limited resources to provide adequate care. There is a direct correlation between mental-health issues and chemical dependency, further exacerbating this problem.

“We must stop criminalizing mental illness. It’s a national tragedy and scandal that the L.A. County Jail is the biggest psychiatric facility in the United States.”

Elyn Saks

The number of institutionalized individuals with mental illness dropped from 560,000 in 1950 to 130,000 in 1980.

Source: Unite for Sight

 

State funding for mental health is decreasing. The percentage of overall mental health spending contributed by states decreased between 1990 and 2009, from 27% to 15%.

Source: Pew Charitable Trusts

Of the youth incarcerated in juvenile justice systems, 70% have at least one mental-health condition, and about 20% suffer from serious mental-health issues.

Source: The National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice

 

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• Pay attention to the way people with mental-health issues are portrayed. Educate yourself and your community to remove the public stigma around mental illness.
• Contact your local representatives to advocate for funding and programs aimed at treating and assisting people with mental-health issues, especially those in jails and prisons. Advocate for more resources to be devoted to treatment, as opposed to incarceration. See page 145 for a helpful guide to contacting your representatives.

Among those with a serious mental illness, 23% also have a substance use disorder.

Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

 

REFLECTION & JOURNAL SPACE

• Who do you know in your family or community who lives with mental illness? What supports are in place for that person? What supports are still needed?
• Why is it easier to fund incarceration of people with mental illness than to fund treatment and support?