Listening to the sounds and activity above has given me insight into the terrible state of mental healthcare in prison and how badly we need changes. In the United States, roughly 40% of people in state prisons and local jails have a history of mental illness, but less than half of those folks receive treatment, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Individuals with signs of mental health issues can face additional risks and discipline while inside, including prison misconduct charges, longer solitary confinement periods and barriers to accessing medication.
I’m not surprised. The consensus seems to be that society wants prisoners to suffer. Mainly the institutions care when someone’s life is at risk, otherwise, if they are suffering, good, that’s why they are there, right?
Maybe it makes us feel like society is getting payback, but if we aren’t going to try to improve people, it would be more honest to just shoot them on the head and save the money rather than the mental torture we hand out in the name of “justice”.