Three Times as Many People With Serious Mental Illness in Prisons Than in Psychiatric Hospitals

OPEN MINDS, The Behavioral Health & Social Service Industry Analyst Industry News Between 300,000 and 400,000 people in jail are identified as having a serious mental illness (SMI), such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which is three times the number of people receiving treatment for SMI in state mental hospitals each year. The primary treatment for prisoners with SMI is solitary confinement. Between 1995 and 2000, while the general prison population grew by 28%, the number of inmates housed in segregation grew by 40%. Over the course of a year, 13.5 million people spend time in jail . . .