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STATEMENT

of TAC Executive Director Mary T. Zdanowicz, Esq.

DOJ DISCOVERS THE OBVIOUS: INMATES ARE UNHAPPY
New survey trivializes severe mental illnesses

“Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates,” the report released today by the Bureau of Justice Statistics at the U.S. Department of Justice, is already being reported as unearthing horrifying data about the numbers of people with mental illnesses in our jails and prisons.

The data come from surveys completed by inmates themselves, asked about symptoms in the past 12 months, or since admission, of things like “feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt,” “increased/decreased interest in sexual activities,” or even “thoughts of revenge.” One wonders why they didn’t ask if any of these jailed prisoners felt a sense of social isolation.

The surveys did not assess the severity or duration of the symptoms and did not exclude “symptoms” due to medical illness, bereavement, or substance abuse. Considering the methods, it is surprising the numbers weren’t even higher.

Unfortunately, this report is emblematic of a larger problem in our country today – implying every American has a mental health problem just as disabling as a severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI). Even self-reported delusions or hallucinations are not evidence someone has a true mental illness. In purporting to broadly diagnose prisoners from surveys, the results trivialize the real suffering of those with severe and persistent mental illnesses. Schizophrenia is the most common diagnosis associated with SPMI, psychiatric conditions so disabling they can strip sufferers of the capacity to gain competitive employment, live independently in the community, and function effectively in family and social roles.

This report further fails to distinguish why people commit crime. Because they are criminals? Or because they live in an alternate reality where they think they shoot at aliens, not police officers, or that they must protect their children from the devil by killing them? People with SPMI deserve treatment before they descend into madness. Lumping them together with an inmate who reports “persistent anger or irritability” is not just absurd, it also contributes to a culture that makes it easy to ignore those with disabling psychotic symptoms, putting them on par with the “worried well.”

The very real problem of criminalizing the mentally ill can only be addressed by identifying the failures of the mental health system responsible for keeping them out of jail.

DOJ report | DOJ press release

The Treatment Advocacy Center (www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illnesses. TAC promotes laws, policies, and practices for the delivery of psychiatric care and supports the development of innovative treatments for and research into the causes of severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

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