Police encounters with the mentally ill in crisis are becoming an every day occurrence. The topical issue of police shootings often does not mention that many victims have mental illnesses and that police are not trained to recognize symptoms of mental illness. As well, many misdemeanors and minor felonies are perpetrated by mentally ill persons leading to an overwhelming number incarcerated in county jails and state jails. Having been arrested there are not enough diversion programs to psychiatric facilities so prisons have become de facto psych institutions. The abolishment of chronic facilities between 1960 and 1980 has led to a massive presence of the seriously mentally ill on our streets. Even acute psychiatric beds have been reduced to paltry levels. Board and Care facilities for the seriously ill are being boarded up as city and state reimbursements do not keep up with costs per patient per month. Within prisons suicides are up and on the streets homelessness is increasing and the causes of the latter are mental illness, substance abuse, alcoholism and a failing economy with attendant absence of a middle class. No solutions are forthcoming.
from Health and Fitness:Mental Health Articles from EzineArticles.com http://ift.tt/1S9JJjd