Title: Improving mental health for inmates
Headings: Improving mental health for inmates
Feature
Improving mental health for inmates
New thinking patterns
Influencing correctional policies
Introducing trauma-informed care
Alternatives to hospitalization
Identifying suicide patterns
Further reading

Content: More than 24 percent have been previously diagnosed with major depressive order, 17 percent with bipolar disorder, 13 percent with a personality disorder and 12 percent with post-traumatic stress disorder. The numbers are even higher for people in jail, where one-third have been previously diagnosed with major depressive disorder and almost one-quarter with bipolar disorder. “We lock up people with mental health problems when we should really be treating these people in the community,” says Fagan. “ In the absence of that, prisons and jails become de facto treatment centers.” As a result, psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers have become essential mental health providers in correctional settings, and they can be a driving force for new programs in state and federal facilities, he says. Here is a look at some of the latest evidence-based approaches from psychologists. New thinking patterns
Several psychologists are focused on keeping people with mental health problems out of correctional facilities. Among them is Robert Morgan, PhD, a psychology professor at Texas Tech University in Lubbock who is testing a new prison-based program that helps inmates learn to avoid behaviors that may lead to re­incarceration after they are released. Morgan’s program, Changing Lives and Changing Outcomes, seeks to address antisocial thinking and behavior patterns—which he calls “criminalness”—among inmates who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses. The program is novel because it diverges from the traditional belief that providing better mental health care alone will reduce the chances of criminal behavior patterns.