Do Inmates Leave Prison With Severe PTSD and Other Mental Health Issues?
Many inmates enter the system with mental health concerns and leave with even more.
The simple answer to this question is a resounding yes, but many factors that contribute to it need to be discussed. There are a disturbingly high number of inmates who enter prisons, already diagnosed with mental illnesses — likely who would be much better served in a mental health setting rather than jail or prison. But many states have closed their state-run mental health facilities and when someone is charged with a crime, if there is no mental health facility that can house a criminal, they’re tossed in a regular prison.
The facility where I’m housed is considered a mental health camp, but I can tell you from personal experience, this really just boils down to being performative. The person who is our “counselor” is a joke, all she wants to do is prescribe medication and kick you out her door to see the next person. She literally doesn’t have time to spend with anyone who comes in to see her. She’s the only social worker available for all three prisons in this area. As I’ve said before, that’s approximately 2–3k inmates.
Yes, all of these inmates also have a case manager who they’re supposed to be able to sit down and talk to as…
