Title: Mental Illness Soars In Prisons, Jails While Inmates Suffer | HuffPost
Headings: Mental Illness Soars In Prisons, Jails While Inmates Suffer
Mental Illness Soars In Prisons, Jails While Inmates Suffer
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Content: Cruz killed himself on Sept. 20, 2011, during his incarceration at California State Prison in Sacramento, after a long history of mental illness. His story, first reported by the blog Solitary Watch, is an example of how the criminal justice system is ill-equipped to handle people with mental health issues. Cruz spent years in solitary confinement and died while locked in a tiny solitary cell. The rates of suicide in solitary confinement tend to be higher than in the general prison population. Suicide is the number one cause of death among inmates in local jails and in the top five for state prisons, according to a federal report. Yolanda Cruz describes her son as a warm, funny person who was an easy child to raise. When he became a teenager, he began to change. He started to experiment with drugs and alcohol. Then, he was arrested for stealing tools from his neighbor’s garage. When he was 15, he admitted that he heard voices in his head.