A Guide to Mental Illness and the Criminal Justice System

I have found this really helpful PDF document that gives examples of two different cases in where the person being charged had a mental illness. It explains the process, what you should do to help your loved one, and the guidelines of how the courts will handle a mental illness case.

Although this document is quite helpful to help one understand, the outcomes do not look good. Those who need help for mental illness and are incarcerated will not likely get the help they need and will most likely end up doing time, making their illness worse without the proper help. I know first hand alot of people dont even realize that they are mentally ill, and are good at hiding syptoms like voices, etc.

This is a sad truth of the justice system and what I hope one day the system realizes that jail only punnishes, it doesnt teach, and not getting those who are ill the help they need will result in their illness becoming worse.

People are not animals. Lets get them the help they need, not throw them away in cages.

View PDF

A mental disorder or psychiatric disorder is a psychological pattern or anomaly, potentially reflected in behavior, that is generally associated with distress or disability, and which is not considered part of normal development in a person's culture. Mental disorders are generally defined by a combination of how a person feels, acts, thinks or perceives. This may be associated with particular regions or functions of the brain or rest of the nervous system, often in a social context. The recognition and understanding of mental health conditions have changed over time and across cultures and there are still variations in definition, assessment and classification, although standard guideline criteria are widely used. In many cases, there appears to be a continuum between mental health and mental illness, making diagnosis complex

A

Acute stress disorder Adjustment disorder Adolescent antisocial behavior Adult antisocial behavior Adverse effects of medication-not otherwise specified Age-related cognitive decline Agoraphobia Alcohol abuse Alcohol dependence Alcohol withdrawal Alcoholic hallucinosis Alzheimer's disease

Amnestic disorder Amphetamine dependence Amphetamine withdrawal psychosis Anorexia nervosa Anterograde amnesia Antisocial personality disorder Anxiety disorder Anxiolytic-related disorders Asperger syndrome Attention deficit disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Autism Autophagia Avoidant personality disorder

B

Barbiturate dependence Benzodiazepine dependence Benzodiazepine misuse Benzodiazepine withdrawal Bereavement Bibliomania Binge eating disorder

Bipolar disorder Bipolar I disorder Bipolar II disorder Body dysmorphic disorder Borderline intellectual functioning Borderline personality disorder Brief psychotic disorder Bulimia nervosa

C

Caffeine-related disorder Caffeine-induced sleep disorder Cannabis dependence Claustrophobia Catatonic disorder Catatonic schizophrenia Childhood amnesia Childhood antisocial behavior

Circadian rhythm sleep disorder Cocaine dependence Cocaine intoxication Cognitive disorder Communication disorder Conduct disorder Cotard delusion Cyclothymia

D

Delirium tremens Depersonalization disorder Depressive disorder Derealization disorder

Desynchronosis Diogenes Syndrome Dispareunia Dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality disorder) Dyslexia Dysthymia

E

EDNOS Encopresis

Ekbom's Syndrome (Delusional Parasitosis) Enuresis (not due to a general medical condition) Erotomania Exhibitionism

F

Factitious disorder Fregoli delusion Frotteurism

Fugue State

G

Ganser syndrome (due to a mental disorder)

Generalized anxiety disorder General adaptation syndrome Grandiose delusions

H

Hallucinogen-related disorder Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder Histrionic personality disorder Huntington's disease

Hypomanic episode Hypochondriasis

I

Impulse control disorder Impulse-control disorder not elsewhere classified Inhalant abuse

Insomnia due to a general medical condition Intermittent explosive disorder

K

• Kleptomania
• Korsakoff's syndrome

L

• Lacunar amnesia

M

Major depressive disorder Major depressive episode Male erectile disorder Malingering Manic episode Mathematics disorder Medication-related disorder Melancholia

Mental retardation Minor depressive disorder Minor depressive episode Misophonia Mixed episode Mood disorder Mood episode Morbid jealousy Munchausen's syndrome Munchausen's syndrome by proxy

N

Narcissistic personality disorder Neglect of child Neuroleptic-related disorder

Nicotine withdrawal Night eating syndrome Nightmare disorder

O

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) Oneirophrenia Opioid dependence Opioid-related disorder Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)

P

Pain disorder Panic disorder Paranoid personality disorder Parasomnia Parkinson's Disease Partner relational problem Pathological gambling Perfectionism Persecutory delusion Personality change due to a general medical condition Personality disorder Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) Phencyclidine (or phencyclidine-like)-related disorder Phobic disorder Phonological disorder Physical abuse Pica Polysubstance-related disorder Post-traumatic embitterment disorder (PTED) Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Premature ejaculation Primary hypersomnia Primary insomnia Psychogenic amnesia Psychological factor affecting medical condition Psychotic disorder Pyromania

R

Reactive attachment disorder of infancy or early childhood Reading disorder Recurrent brief depression Relational disorder

Residual schizophrenia Retrograde amnesia Rett's disorder Rumination syndrome

S

Sadomasochism Schizoaffective disorder Schizoid personality disorder Schizophrenia Schizophreniform disorder Schizotypal personality disorder Seasonal affective disorder Sedative-, hypnotic-, or anxiolytic-related disorder Selective mutism Separation anxiety disorder Severe mental retardation Shared psychotic disorder Sleep disorder

Sleep terror disorder Sleepwalking disorder Social anxiety disorder Social phobia Somatization disorder Somatoform disorder Specific phobia Stendhal syndrome Stereotypic movement disorder Stuttering Substance-related disorder

T

Tardive dyskinesia Transient global amnesia information obtained from Wikipedia

Trichotillomania