According to a Bureau of Justice Statistics study released September 6, more than half of all prison and jail inmates, includ­ing 56% of state pris­on­ers, 45% of fed­er­al pris­on­ers, and 64% of local jail inmates have men­tal health prob­lems. The study was based on report­ing of symp­toms by inmates rather than through med­ical diag­no­sis. Among state pris­on­ers with men­tal prob­lems, 43% had symp­toms of mania, 23% had major depres­sion, and 15% had psy­chot­ic dis­or­ders. Having men­tal health prob­lems was close­ly cor­re­lat­ed with vio­lence and past criminal activity.

Other sig­nif­i­cant find­ings regard­ing those pris­on­ers with men­tal problems included:

  • 74% of those in state prison were depen­dent on or abus­ing drugs or alco­hol in the year before their admission
  • 13% of those in state prison were home­less in the year before their incarceration
  • 27% of those in state prison report­ed past phys­i­cal or sexual abuse.

(​“Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates,” (NCJ-213600), Sept. 2006; BJS Press Release, Sept. 6, 2006). See Mental Illness. The American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Bar Association have called for exempt­ing those with severe men­tal ill­ness from the death penalty.

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