Prisoners’ mental health - System in need of an overhaul

The mental health services are clearly not picking up people in need of psychiatric help early enough, according to a study of 615 male prisoners conducted by a team of psychiatrists from the Central Mental Hospital.

The study, which has been published in the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, found 47% of remand prisoners had a history of contact with community psychiatric services. The high rate of recidivism has been a serious failing of our jail system, but the latest study would suggest that nobody should really be surprised. It is absurd to expect to resolve anything if the underlying problems are essentially being ignored.

The survey found that 36% of prisoners have an alcohol disorder, while 33% are dependent on illegal drugs. A further 2% currently suffer from psychosis, while 4.6% suffer from depression. People with psychosis should be treated for mental illness, not jailed as common criminals. Individuals suffering from psychosis are over represented among remand prisoners, according to the survey.