A Review of the "Mental Illness" Definition Might Prevent Crime 260
An anonymous reader writes "Following a BBC report showing abnormal variation in the number of people taken into police custody with mental health problems, concerns have been raised about the legal definition of "mental illness". Prof. Steve Fuller argues that a much sharper legal distinction is required to ensure criminals with mental disorders are not released without appropriate treatment. Fuller distinguishes between two cases: a 'client', who pays a therapist and enjoys a liberal, level-playing field in face-to-face interactions, and a 'patient' who is being treated by a doctor for a particular disorder. If the former relationship cannot be established due to person's mental state, then the latter one should be enforced. Thus, Fuller calls for 'a return to institutions analogous to the asylums of the early 19th century.'"
Once a criminal, "ill" for life (Score:2, Interesting)
It is my understanding that you get punished once for being a criminal. With a so called diagnosis associated with you for whatever reason, sensible or not, that type of personal information probably be used against you for life.
Foundation question (Score:5, Interesting)
Apropos of nothing, let me ask a question.
Can people be cured of mental health problems?
I recall a study comparing the rates of people getting off drugs while on psychotherapy with those getting off drugs on their own.
I also recall a study where completely sane people were checked into a mental institution (under a false name, as a test case) with instructions to pretend symptoms for awhile, but then pretend to be completely cured. Their status was never set to "cured", rather it was "condition, under remission".
So have there been any studies showing that mental health treatment is effective, or is psychotherapy more akin to lie detectors and phrenology?
(A related question, is there good sensitivity between the various mental health diagnoses with different treatments? Meaning, if the condition A treatment is different from condition B, is there a sharp, easily-recognized distinction between the symptoms for A and B?)
This raises a question they try to avoid (Score:5, Interesting)
Are we responsible for the crimes we commit? If we are mentally ill, then surely we're not responsible. And if we're not responsible, then surely we need to have another "protected class" of people defined to prevent harassment, discrimination and unjust punishment. What they are attempting to do is reduce and even remove freedoms and rights which are both natural and constitutionally guaranteed. I'm not going to say that mentally unstable people should have access to dangerous things such as cars, knives, heavy bludgeoning devices and especially not firearms. If someone is indeed a "danger to society" we need to be serious about it -- very serious and very consistent. To deny someone their rights such as the right to self defense while at the same time not affording them appropriate protections under the law to compensate creates an extremely unfair situation.
Re:Need more mental health centers not prisons (Score:4, Interesting)
Probably in the same timeframe as "disagreeing with the politics of the ruling party" becoming a crime.
There is a good example - Russia has a long history of "diagnosing" dissenters with "mild schizophrenia" and similar mental conditions and "sentencing" them to be treated in special prison-like institutions. It started back in tsarist days in 19th century and lasted up until at least the late Soviet period, when a bunch of dissidents were forcefully "treated" from this. (There are also some reports it's been going on in the 90s but lately there have been no high profile cases.)
Parallels can be drawn..
Re:Who's hurting who? (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm a schizophrenic who has repeatedly been a victim of violence. However, as far as I know, it has nothing to do with people not understanding my behavior, and more to do with the situations I've gotten myself into, such as mental hospitals and group homes. It's been my observation that most of the people who work in those types of places want to help, but some see it as a means to exert power, sometimes violent, over others and get away with it.
Watch out for caffeine (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Need more mental health centers not prisons (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, they easily serve the same purpose. How long until "disagreeing with the politics of the ruling party" becomes a mental illness?
Considering during the 5ish years there's been a slew of attacks on people who "don't fit their world view" including pseudoscience like papers? It's already happening, funny thing about that most of them are attacks on conservatives or the tea party. Though there have been a few on liberals as well, all in all? It's exactly what every dictatorship does, you don't have to search far to find it.
An ex-convict's view.... (Score:5, Interesting)
As someone with major mental illness who also spent time in gaol for a heinous crime, this is a terribly thorny issue. Due to the trend of "community based care", many patients stuff up their meds, and so end up committing crimes. As there is a lack of proper care facilities, we end up incarcerated in prison. This is a hell of a scary place for anyone, let alone someone with mental illness. Prison Mental Health is a joke, as it concentrates on the use of Seroquel for behaviour management, and there is absolutely no focus on life skills or therapy. Furthemore, prison officers are not mental health nurses, yet in the facility I was incarcerated in, about 2/3 of inmates were on psych meds.
In many respects, the old 19th century model of asylums (i.e. secured hospitals) could well be a better way to reduce recidivism, and to help patients learn to manage their disease and life. Prison certainly doesn't help - I came out more unstable than when I went in, as well as being traumatised by the rapes, stabbings and suicides.
Yes, prison is a consequence of action, but for those who commit a crime when unwell, but fail the test for diminished responsibility (it can be hard to prove you didn't know you were doing wrong, let alone deal with how you might know that society/law judges your actions wrong, but due to delusional thinking you think you're justified in your actions) it usually only makes things much worse. Hence the suicide rate in prison and amongst parolees.
Re:Need more mental health centers not prisons (Score:5, Interesting)
As somebody who had spent enforced two months in a mental ward after being conned into "self-admittance" (and later threatened with being shipped to a state institution unless I signed another set of papers claiming I committed myself voluntarily), I'd say the current system already needs rework.
My family was told outright by one of the orderlies that because I had no insurance, I'd be kept for a while because that's they way the hospital gets money from the government (via Medicare).
My "doctor" did everything possible to launch me into an anger spiral that would help them keep me locked up for a longer time. I was not the only one - I personally witnessed how they set up a young guy that came in through the emergency room after drunk drug overdose (at a party) - he did snap after being lied to and promised to be released on several occurrences (I witnessed two of those firsthand, being nearby - the place was that small), and when I finally fought my way out of there he had already been shipped to state "mental institution."
From what I heard, that meant at least six months of being locked in.
My "doctor" did nothing whatsoever to even pretend he cared for his patients. All were prescribed a cocktail of medications (with varying side effects), and that was it. No counseling, no sessions. My "welfare worker," the person supposedly assigned to protect the patients, was fully cooperating to keep me in (overheard their exchange waiting for the first and only "interview" I had with both of them).
I got out because a member of my family knew somebody wealthy and connected enough to start causing problems for the "doctor" in charge. Otherwise I might as well have still been confined, for all I know.
In the end, I declared bankruptcy rather than have them get around $34,000 of taxpayers' money for my "treatment." Consisting of involuntary confinement to a small shared room with two beds, two night-tables, a small bathroom, one corridor, and a TV room. If not for the books my family brought over, I'd probably go insane from boredom alone.
I was merely an incidental victim. Somebody being thrown into that system on purpose would have even worse chances of getting out unscathed (if that's what I did). There was an article recently about New York policeman who ended up in a mental ward after speaking out about criminal behavior in his division.
So, no. You are already there, it's just that few people realize it.