Can anyone tell me if they have had a loved one that has commited crimes that suffer schizophrenia, and the crimes have been related to there mental illness, but the justice system failed and put them in prison. I am going through something now, and I would really like to hear different stories. I talk to people here that give sympathy, but can not tell me much, as have never really heard stories relating to this.
Thanks everyone.

kyla...i don't know specifically about schizophrenia but i do know about mentally ill being in prison...here in the good ol' US of A it happens all the time..my son is bipolar/antisocial...(which by the way is a hair away from schizophrenia)his last incarceration the judge even ordered a psych evaluation and it was never done...well it was done..he was sent to dorothy dix hospital in NC a place for the criminally insane...if you have ever been there you wouldn't see ....well its like the movie..what flew over the cockoos nest...but he wasn't really evaluated...he knew that this was not where he wanted to stay so for 3 days he was very sane and he went to prison...it happens all the time...here in our county of florida i don't remember the statistics but our jail is packed and a large number are mentally ill...but we have only one place they can go...and when it reaches capacity(unlike our prisons) they will not take anymore..so...but i know right now my son has a good lawyer and she is getting him evaluated at a "real" mental hospital before this sentencing...and if accepted he will recieve counseling and medication on a reqular basis..without fear of having to watch his back...take care kyla..your in my thoughts as well as corey...

[B]Hi Kyla- my son, Joe, also is Bi-Polar- Schizophrenia with some other stuff.. Anyways that is what I am working on now-getting him some medication-his records,etc.. Yes it is sad that there are MANY in jail & their mental Health NOT BEING addressed!!!! My son has been in a couple of Mental Institutions & has a VERY long record of his mental illnesses. Yes me or Samiam can talk to you about these issues!!!!!! I hope you are doing some better. Your friend, Jenny

Hi Jenny and Samian
Thanks so much. Jenny, if you are getting records for mental health and the court system, be careful. PM me and I will explain it to you. Make sure that the records (and they should be) are stamped that they cant be used in a criminal court of law.
Samian, the prison mental health are stupid. You know what they did here? They called me up and asked me for the number for the CIA person by some name, that Corry worked for. I just laughed at them, like WHAT????? I felt like saying, yeah lovey, call mulder and scully you moran, there FBI, that will be the next number you want. So of course, Corry though he was clever, and fooled them. They even asked me for his mothers number to talk about the black hawk helicoptor that landed in there backyard. Well I willingly gave him that number. They had him on no meds.
Jenny, we had to fight for the medication so hard, you know, there was nothing wrong with him, it was normal to talk to yourself, have imaginary friends, and be microchipped for the CIA to track you, yeah, that just happens in everyday life NOT. The medication does help, but it makes them extremely tired, and a while to adjust on it, and when you finally think the dose is right, you are back to square one and they are upping it. Its a hard road.
I agree, the prisons are being used as the mental health wards. And of course the psychs there are so clever, they even call the CIA to check on your well being. They dont belong in prison. There is enough stigma around mental illnesses already, and it has to stop. Corrys crimes were from paranoia, no one was hurt, and the police laughed and thought it was a joke, after putting 2 cans of pepper spray on him and throwing him in a padded cell. Yeah... right... prison was the answer. I dont think so. We are going for a huge mental health defense in 2 weeks, and I will have the courtroom packed with the media if I have to. Its about time the public was made more aware.
Sorry ladies, as you can see, I am angry and the system, and I know you feel the same way. Thanks for letting me vent.

Kyla that is so funny...they were looking for the cia members and black hawk heli..lol are you sure that "they" don't have a mental illness themselves????lol..poor corry...i hope you have more luck there than we do here...we went round and round trying to get chris his meds..and now he is on them but they don't do the blood work like they should...so that sucks too..he gets worried that they may over dose him and no one would know...and that is a great possiblitiy since he takes lithium and needs blood work every 6 weeks..so i don't know how long he will stay on his meds..and of course he never would take them in prison ..just for what you say..they make you groggy for the first few weeks...he felt he wouldn't have been able to protect himself...geezeh...the system sucks the big one when it comes to dealing with the mentally ill..take care hon

Samian, exactly, they give them meds, and shove them back in general population, where they can hardly cope.
He does need to get his blood work done, cause lithium isnt a game, and he needs to make sure there isnt alot in his system. I totally understand lithium, and if to much is in the system, they can become very sick. The prison is stupid, I swear. I think they think that you are making up these things for special treatment or something.
they said, cause Corry was from the US, they had to make sure all avenues were cleared before a diagnosis, they never made anyway. Like you think, he would be sitting in prison if he belonged to the CIA. How dumb can they get. Like Corry was telling them he did work for the CIA for the occult, and worked with the FBI. Like what a special person, what the hell was he doing sitting in there prison, with all that knowledge with the US government.
They refused to give Corry these meds in prison, they gave him a low dose of anti depressants, and cut out his sedative for anxiety. That was there answer. Like anyone in prison can get a anti depressant, half of them probably do, god, I know I would want one.
By the time he got to mental health, he was just a mess. Have you seen the movie
"A beautiful Mind" with Russel Crowe? I swear, that was Corry, but you know, thats really normal to be like that. The system makes me sick, I am fighting them once again, I thought I won my battle, but I am back to square one. He cant go to mental health court now, cause his mother is an attorney, so they are saying he understand the court process. Yeah,thats why they offered him 12 years, and he was going to say yes, even though he didnt know what he was doing 12 years for. I am truly sick of it, and if I have to make Corry an example here to help other forensic mental health patients, I certainly will.

good luck kyla{******{hugs}}}}}}

Well Here I am though I don't understand the gravity of all thats going on around me most of the time I do understand I am sick and I want the help to get better. 2 years before my arrest I sought help from a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with depression.

I saw him a few times then I moved to Hervey Bay where I still reside and I approached Community Mental Health because I believed my depression had spawned into something more severe I was hearing voices and seeing things and people that others didn't .Well Community Mental Health did a 10 minute assessment and said that I did not suffer a severe enough mental illness for them to assist me after which I attempted suicide twice. Then Kyla my wife had a justice examination order taken out to get me properly assessed and well I somehow talked myself out of their help or they were blind to the fact that I was sick or they just didn't care.

So anyhow 2 1/2 months later being deeply depressed and suffering from chronic pain syndrome I woke up one morning knowing I was going to kill myself. And at around 9 am I Started the task of overdoseing till I had taken so much medication that I became oblivious to the world around me and from that point on throughout the day I have no recollection until about 6:00 that evening.

When I became somewhat aware as my eyes were burning and sting and my genitals felt as though someone had set them alight I was in so much pain from that as well as having previous injuries. I was screaming and crying and banging my head against the steel doors and punching and kicking the walls from the pain the confusion and the comments the police made saying to me when I asked for my wife that she didn't want to have anything to do with me . which I found out later was a lie plus I had all these voices telling they are going to kill you, they want you to hurt they are going to hurt you and take away your family. I was so lost and scared and I was set on just knocking myself out. But before I could harm myself any further the police came in and sprayed me with pepper spray again and tossed me into a padded cell. I was left in there till I passed out and then they woke me to move me back to a standard cell.

I remained in my soaking wet pepper spray drenched clothes till the following monday when I went to court
Because I didn't have legal representation my case was adjourned till the next day. mean while the police prosecutor had contacted my wife and by way of lieing stateiing that she was going to do everything to get me into Mental health to obtain copies of some of my mental health records one in which I had attempted suicide after being arrested for fighting with an off duty MP he was 30+ years old and army trained and I was 14 I was charged with simple assault. My wife wanting to help me get help provided the documents and the prosecutor used them to have me remanded into prison. My mother had to fax them to Kyla from GA during the early hours of the morning.

While in prison the stress and anxiety along with my physical injuries and the chronic pain syndrome. I eventually became wheelchair bound due to being refused a walking stick. I spoke with a psychiatrist from the Department of corrections who asked allot of questions about my life and my childhood and though real to me at the time I believed I was an agent for the FBI CIA DOD and that I worked with the local police on occult matters some of which is in fact based on real life events that took place . But this Dr decided that he believed me and wanted to confirm my employment I only had 2 appointments with him whilst in custody via video conference. I was released on Supreme Court Bail after 3 -4 months of incarceration

I went directly back to mental health with the persistance of my wife and the circumstances surrounding my arrest I was finally taken seriously I was admitted into the mental health ward for 2 weeks and assessed properly I wasn't officially diagnosed but unofficially I am schizophrenic , ADHD, Epileptic suffering Chronic pain and I am currently on medication for treatment of schizophrenia but the Legal aid Psychiatrist who assessed my condition stated that because I intentionally overdosed that I was responsible for my actions though he noted that I had been suffering A depressive disorder and that I was suicidal .

that means that I have to go before the criminal court without the defense of deminished capacity, And now with all this on my mind and other things my syptoms are returning more quickly and frequently even though I am still taking my medication which supposedly they are going to increase but we haven't heard back from them yet.

I am thankful to have a place like PTO to put forward my story and I feel safe here trusting yes in a cautious way what do you think can anyone offer me advice on ways I can personally gain ground over my illness . And would any of you be willing to befriend someone like me at the moment my only real friend is my wife
I would appreciate your input and any advice you can offer Thank You So very much

Corry

I think you will find many friends here that will not judge you, but support you.

Corry thanks for posting this up for everyone.
WE will eventually beat this system, thats a promise. :)

Thank you for sharing your story with us. You have been through alot. Your lucky to have Kyla and i'm sure she'll do everything possible to help. Best of luck and wishes to both of you.

i have the same problem my boyfriend has a history of mental health and he is being charged with crimes he didn;t committ and signed a confession because he was not mentally stable i live in canada and this happen in Michigan we can't afford a good lawyer can anyone give me some advice?

monka
If he was ever under treatment at a mental health clinic. and had a caseworker.that worker could advocate for him. ask the worker if could write a letterl stating his diagnosishis symptoms when not stablized with meds.if the worker will not do that then complain to the worker that handles clients right s issues. also the case worker will have to have his permission in writhing to give out that in fo on him. worker could also testify in court for him. if charges were due to his symptoms while not stablized on his meds.advocating for a client is partof a caseworkers-casemanger job duties. or at least it was at the mentah center i worked at in texas.
If he did not have a caseworker you could try to get same info from his most recent stays in a psych hospital. give that to what ever lawyer he has appoibeen given.with little or no money he will get a court appointed one .good luck to you and him. keep the faith.

lladies its beenmy experience with mental health.like all buracraties the mental health workers have to go by the policies of who is funding the center or hospital usually medicadeis footing the bill so in order to get the money to keep the center and hospital open they haveto follow medicaide restrictions. if going to the hospitals. is usually determinedby by what the hospital accepts insurance or medicade-medicare that generally determines which hospital one goes too. most mental health workers can do assessment in ony a few min. all they have to screen for is person sucidal,homocidal or psychotic.doesnttake longto tell that once thats done the worker starts arranging getting person in a place where they can not harm themselves or others and sadly that means involutarily committed. but before that the worker should try to talk person into going voluntairly.
MOST people realize they need help when theyare stablized in their illness . once again its a sad fact most get stablized onmeds so they arent having psychoytic ,sucidal eposides anymore then getto thinking they dont need meds or the meds only make them feel drugged out zombied up so they quit taking them which results in their symptoms returning which often leads to being arrested ot committed to psyc hospital.each facility generally has to folow drs. orders.i as far as what meds are prescribedand the dosage. it is a trial and test peoriod if one doesnt work tryanother till you find one that does thenits the same finding the rightdosage.basicaly bottom line is what monies are available to that center. and big brother doesnyt give much to the mental health system.so most are under staffed. under funded. and staff like every where theirs some good workers that will go that extra mile then their are workersthat do nothing or as little as possible.as for being put into psych hospital for criminaly insane. mental health generally try to error on side of caution. better be safethan sorry.if they make the wrongcall and theperson kills self or others its thatworkers butt and or that centers better safe than sorry.maynot be rightbut thats how the stysem works.or at least the one I worked at. each state may be diffrent since most are state programs not federal.

The problem is that with de-institutionalization of the mental hospitals that occurred in the nineties, prisons have taken over the roll of housing these mentally ill individuals who would have otherwise been residents of mental hospitals.

While de-institutionalization seemed like a great idea at the time, the fact is that mental insititutions acted as a measure of social control. Without these institutions, there was no place to house individuals who needed more supervision than the community could offer.... and in comes the prison system. where more and more inmates are now mentally ill, yet they are not recieving the services that they would have recieved had they been placed in a mental hospital. There is limited psychological services, and medication management. Its not a good situation for anyone involved.

S