Last night I was watching courtv waiting for the program on Pelican Bay to air. They had a program on prior to that about a lady in Round Rock Tx who killed her landlord. She was schizophrenic, had been for years. Two days before she shot her landlord to death, she went in to file a police complaint about him.
She told the police that he was killing christians with liquid gold that he cooked up on his stove. Can you image! They asked her if she had any weapons and she told them she had a gun. They did nothing. They did not send her for a psych eval. They did not take her gun. They did not warn her landlord.

This has bothered me all day. From watching this show, part of schizophrenia is that be believe you are perfectly sane. She sits in a Tx jail with no treatment. She actually said is does not feel threatened like she did not the streets. I guess a structured environment is what she needed. I just have serious problems with someone with a long history of mental illness and they are allowed to own weapons and wonder the streets.

I wish I could recall this ladies name, but it escapes me. Did anyone else see this?

During her trial, the prosecutors psychiatrist told the jury that the only way she would receive treatment is if they found her guilty and sent her to prison. When the truth is, she is receiving NO treatment in prison. The only way for her to have received treatment was for them to find her not guilty by insanity and then they would have been able to sentence her to a mental hospital.

I did see this too Fly, but I can't remember her name either.

I thought that was a trip what she said at the end about everything being "fine now"

Yeah, that shocked me also. I mean to feel threatened in the free world and feel secure in a prison is beyond my comprehension. The only thing I can think of is she somehow needed to be in a structured environment.

Unfortunately this happens more than you can possibly realize...mentally Ill people fall thru the cracks all the time along with not enough follow up after someone is released after hospitaization. Too many of these people stop taking their meds and there's NO one out there to monitor that.

I wish I could go into detail....I could tell you dozens and dozens of stories....but due to confidentiality from my former job....I can't.

MRs. D

This is exactly what they did with mentally ill people before there were hospitals and treatment centers. They just locked them up and forgot about them. Know that we know that there are people that need treatment along with a structured environment they just find a way to get them in the "environment" but the treatment part is forgotten. They give animals antidepressants now to control mental disorders but not someone who commits a crime, that could have been very likely due to their illness. There is never a reason for their actions only excuses. God be with them.

As for the gun situation, it is not legal for someone judged "mentally defective" to own one.

As for the court system. I feel that the final decision to recieve treatment lies with the patient, regarding whether or not they wish to take medications. In the case of civil commitment, I believe that should a court order the person into treatment, that person should be confronted with a choice: Accept treatment for the disorder, or do long, HARD time in a prison. It should be considered a very serious offense when a person violates a court order for treatment.

People with mental illness can and ARE accountable for their conditions/actions. A person who refuses treatment when ordered by a judge is like a felon in posession of a firearm with the intent to commit a crime. Usually, the motivation to not accept treatment is so that they can excuse their actions when venting frustrations out on other people. Also. A person who escapes a secure mental health facility when ordered there by the courts MUST be charged with a felony, and serve AT LEAST 5 years in a FEDERAL prison for such an offense. An escape from a court ordered treatment plan should be considered NO different then a parole violation!

We simply can't blame parenting, society, or the mental health system for the behavior of criminals. The final decision on an act rests with the recipient, and whether they are willing to control their illness. I believe in human rights for those who are incarcerated, and good medical treatment. But I also am strong on accountability and people being responsible for their actions.

MrCoffee

Her name was Diana Dials or something like that and she is in Gatesville prison. Gatesville prison has a mental health facility were they send the prisoners who experience mental health problems(Mt. View), but unless an inmate is a danger to themselves or others, they have a right to refuse treatment. She has a life sentence so she will never go back to society again. I know she was sentenced for murder but if the jail sees that she is not threatening or hurting other inmates, is doing her job like she should, is not hurting herself or thinking of hurting herself, she has every right to refuse treatment/medication. If she should start doing some of that behavior or showing signs that she would do it, they can transfer her to Mountain View against her will. Of course she can snap and do something damaging to another offender without showing signs first, but so can every other offender there. I stand behind her choice to refuse mental health treatment if she chooses to and continues to abide by the rules and not be a problem for anyone within the prsion system, and is not a danger to herself.

Sorry that's Diana Dial without the S.

http://www.courttv.com/trials/taped/dial.html

Mr. Coffee,
It is my impression from reading your post, that you know little about mental illness, in particular bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, because if you did you would understand, that most people with this type of illness are not able to understand or comprehend that they are even ill.

“Impaired awareness of illness (anosognosia) is a major problem because it is the single largest reason why individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder do not take their medications. It is caused by damage to specific parts of the brain, especially the right hemisphere. It affects approximately 50 percent of individuals with schizophrenia and 40 percent of individuals with bipolar disorder. When taking medications, awareness of illness improves in some patients.” Taken from the Treatment Advocacy Center site http://www.psychlaws.org/BriefingPapers/BP14.htm

People, who have these illnesses, are so convinced their perspective of reality is the truth, and that everyone else is crazy. And there is no convincing them otherwise. Doing hard time in prison for someone who is ill would only convince them they are being imprisoned unjustly since there is nothing wrong with them. And I am afraid that in regards to them being accountable for their condition/actions, the same applies. When a person is in a severe manic state, having delusions and hallucinating, and convinced of things that are not real, there is no way to convince them otherwise. Which is part of the problem of treating these illnesses; do you force these people to be medicated? Do you lock them up in prison, where a large part of the prison population is already filled with those who are mentally ill? Do you force them to be treated? It is a situation that still has not been dealt with in a satisfactory manner.

No we can’t blame parenting, society or the mental health system but neither can we blame those who are mentally ill. They did NOT ask for this, it was dealt them in the cards of life. Does being mentally ill make one a criminal? I don’t think so anymore than being a criminal makes one mentally ill.

I have been married for 15 years, to a man who 2 years ago found out he is bipolar. AFTER he went totally bonkers and did some serious stuff, he is now serving time. He was so psychotic he can’t even remember most of what happened that landed him in jail.
He is on meds, and for the first time in his life, he does not hear voices or see things that are not there. He always thought those things were normal. When he asks about what happened during that time, I tell him little pieces, he can’t even believe it. Meds have made him almost a totally different person, but he’s still doing time.

And here’s another nice tidbit for you, in December my husband went before the PB. He was told that he was crazy and that the state of Arkansas has a place for crazy people, did he know what it was called? The PB told him, it was the State Penitentiary!
The issue of mental illness is one that not many people want to be involved in or with. It’s a sad state of affairs, but most folks think mental illness is contagious. Meanwhile the thousands of mentally ill in our prison system suffer everyday.