Comments on: Time Magazine on decriminalising mental illness

By: Doctor X

Doctor X — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:46:31 +0000

Looking at numbers treated in hospitals and numbers treated while in prison is not, in itself, a useful comparison.
Americans are avid consumers of mental health services. Outpatient treatment is commonplace and, in many cases, preferable to hospitalization. Many of those receiving outpatient treatment are supported by the state on permanent disability and their treatment is paid by the state.
The number of patients in hospitals compared to prisons is relatively low because of the de-institutionalization movement which arose to protect mentally ill persons from involuntary and prolonged commitment and, secondarily, because health insurers rarely pay for hospitalization longer than one month. You can certainly criticize the quality of care received by individuals living in “half-way” outpatient homes and in subsidized living while on long-term SSI (disability) for psychiatric disorders, but I’m sure when you tally the numbers who are receiving treatment and support outside of prison, you will get a more accurate picture.
Back in the 1960s and earlier, when substantially higher numbers of Americans were hospitalized in huge institutions for long periods of time, the care was often atrocious, but the ratio of hospitalized to imprisoned patients looked wonderful. The system is not good, in my opinion, and the available treatment leaves much to be desired, but the numbers in this case don’t really tell the story.

By: Doctor X

Doctor X — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:46:07 +0000

By: Mark(p.s.)

Mark(p.s.) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 04:39:34 +0000

I (of course) believe the criminal should be held accountable for their crime(s).
from the article “people suffering from mental illness had nowhere to go”
doctors label someone mentally ill, institutionalize someone, their patient/prisoner has no life or job skills, then their mental illness is responsible for their failing to succeed RIGHT.
RE:Jail and mental illness
guilty go free and innocent get jail.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:51:07 +0000

But why shouldn’t the mentally ill be held accountable for their crimes? The notion, of course, is that their mental illnesses cause the criminal behavior. But time and time again, research shows that it is substance abuse and not mental illness that is the largest predictor of criminal behavior among the mentally ill.