David, I worry about this since I will be going in. As a child my entire family had MAJOR issues and it is well documented in my PSI. My biggest fear is that they will try to put me on medication just because or that I won't be able to go to a camp because of it. Do you know anything about classification when it comes to that. I have not had any kind of "treatment" in a long time but when I was younger I attempted suicide. Thanks G-D I screw up so often :) I do not consider myself mentally ill and actually the director of the hospital I was at in Illinois has agreed to speak at my sentencing to that matter. I'm still afraid though, the PSI looks REALLY bad.
Kali

Kali,
The single most important thing you can do to insure you get what you need is to have your attorney ask the judge to "order" or make mention in your sentencing paperwork that you need attention for "whatever". I have never heard of a medical condition effecting your placement unless they deem you a threat to the "safety & security" of the institution.
There are a whole lot of people with a shady mental history all over the federal system. The ones they are concerned about are people showing overt signs and have aggression in their record.
When you first get to a prison they are going to give you an intake screening and you will most likely see a "mental health" official.. They will ask you if you need any meds, have any issues, are depressed, etc.
Their cure-all anti-depression medicine is Zoloft. You would be surprised what all this medicine cures. (hah)

Anyways, if you need something, bring it up at sentencing. They don't force feed drugs unless they think you are gonna do something crazy. I don't think you will have any problems.

David



I may have just made this thread a little "confusious" because I split it from the introduction in this forum. For anyone trying to follow this thread, I will quote the forum introduction below, then respond. (Sorry Kali! Didn't mean to make your post complicated) :)

This Forum - Mental Health in the Prison System
I have a real personal interest in this forum and topic in general. I don't consider myself to be mentally ill, though I do have A.D.H.D. which many consider an impediment / learning disability. Regardless, I have played the games with the "mental health services" in the prison system and came out on top due to lots of pull on the outside, but not without many pains / battles along the way. Further, I have witnessed the abuses by (mostly) medical staff these inmates were facing. I can't even begin to express how appalled I have been / AM. In time I will share many of these stories here with you but at this moment I want to get this forum up and running.

I'd like to share with you the entire story that "triggered" my opening this forum and reminded me about a fight I feel most strong about. This young man is doing 99 years for accidentally killing his son. Please read his story.

DAVID:


MOST TIMES MENTAL ILLNESS CREATES CRIME..... THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD TODAY WHO HAVE DIFFERENT VARIATIONS OF MENTAL ILLNESS. YES, WE HAVE PEOPLE ON DEATH ROW WHO ARE MENTALLY ILL..... WE HAVE PEOPLE IN THE PRISONS WHO ARE MENTALLY ILL.....

WE THINK WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY IN RECOGNIZING MENTAL ILLNESS AND TREATING IT, BUT THIS IS NOT TRUE.... PEOPLE TEND TO WANT TO PUSH IT UNDER A BLANKET AND NOT DEAL WITH IT..... WHY? DI BELIEVE WITH ALL MY HEART, THAT IF WE DO WHAT IS NECESSARY IN OUR SOCIETY TO TREAT MENTAL ILLNESS AND TO FIND ANSWER5 TO OUR SOCIETY PROBLEMS THEN CRIME WILL NO LONGER BE HAPPENING...

DONNA