#4: A place to get help or a jail cell?

I chose to read a shocking article that was just included in the New York Times for this blog post. The piece talks about a jail in Chicago that is now nicknamed and basically considered the absolute largest mental health institute in America. You may be asking yourself why is a jail home to the mentally ill? How is the state and the government as a whole letting this go on? Unfortunately this article doesn't give many answers as to why 60% of the people in that jail were officially diagnosed with some kind of mental illness. Some inmates that were interviewed just simply said that they've been jailed multiple times and it has always been because of a crime committed as a result of their mental illness. Furthermore others claim that they purposefully get arrested because they don't have any money to get their expensive medication when they are out of the jail because they just get it for free there. The article states that if the government is trying to save money by failing to create more institutions or having more beds in hospitals they're not. It actually costs tax payers $300 to $400 A DAY just to keep these individuals in the jails. The United States seems to be going back to the methods they used over two centuries ago instead of creating much needed change.



After doing so much research on mental health, this is yet another example of how the United States is trying to find methods to escape the problems. The most astonishing statistic that made me stop and think was the fact that in "1955 there was 1 bed in a psychiatric ward for every 300 Americans; now there is 1 for every 3000 Americans". I am shocked that this nation is really just getting worse and worse every year. How is it possible that we can't find methods and space for these people. Working in that jail is a hazard to the guards and the doctors because they think they're just dealing with prisoners while in reality from one moment to the next they can become violent and even suicidal. I am at a loss for words when thinking about this situation, I feel horrible with the way mentally ill people are looked down upon and I ask myself why they are being forced to deal with this mind boggling and harsh life.

Article: Inside a Mental Hospital called Jail