Mental Illness In Prison

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Within American prisons and jails it has become extremely common to locate an elevated number of individuals suffering from a mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, or manic depression. “These [mental illnesses] can profoundly disrupt a person’s thinking, feeling, moods, ability to relate to others and capacity for coping with the demands of life” (Lambert, n.d.) influencing the individual’s behaviors prior to being incarcerated and then the individual’s behavior within the prison environment. Although prison officials are not trained to treat or handle individuals with mental illness handling and treating mental illness is becoming a large part of the department of corrections. The number of individuals with mental…show more content…
Marginalized Population: The Mentally Ill in Prison An Individual that is mentally ill and in prison is likely to be dual marginalized by stigmatization that often times accompanies individuals with mental illness and incarceration. Individuals that have mental illness are often times stigmatized as being dangerous and unpredictable while individuals that are incarcerated are stigmatized as violent aggressive individuals. “Stigma pushes people to the margins of our society. People fear what they do not know and the stigma of mental illness exacerbate the misconceptions people have about who the person really is” (Lambert, n.d.). Individuals with mental illness that are in prison are oppressed. When mental illness impacts an individual’s ability to follow the strict environment within a prison the individual will likely be sent to solitary confinement for a period of time rather than being treated properly for the mental illness that the individual suffers from. “Solitary confinement, which worsens symptoms of mental illness” (Mental Illness in Prisons and Jails: A State Survey, 2014) will likely cause the individual to have increased behavior problems when returned to the general…show more content…
His mental illness was left undiagnosed and untreated until recently” (Watch The Full Program Online | The New Asylums | FRONTLINE | PBS [Video file]. 2015). If Carl McEachron was my client the first thing that I would do to help Mr. McEachron is create an individual treatment plan to allow myself a clear understanding of the needs of Mr. McEachron. During the initial interview with the client I would ask the client to contribute in creating goals and objectives to meet the created goals. After creating the individual treatment plan, I would attempt to educate Mr. McEachron about his mental illness in order to promote mental health treatment and an understanding of how to seek help in the community for mental health. I would also provide Mr. McEachron’s family or support system with education and information about mental illness. As Mr. McEachron’s release date approaches, I would begin planning with Mr. McEachron for his release. This plan would consist of community support systems that foster recovery. I would work to avoid Mr. McEachron becoming part of “a majority of mentally ill inmates [that] are released back into the community, generally with a limited amount of medication, little prepareation, and sometimes no family or support structure” (Watch The

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