The New Asylums (full documentary) | Are Prisons the New Mental Hospitals? | FRONTLINE

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Nearly half a million people in America’s prisons and jails were dealing with mental illness in 2005. FRONTLINE examined mental health in the prison system. (Aired 2005)

When “The New Asylums” was originally released, 16 percent of America’s prison population could be classified as having a severe mental illness such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder, according to National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. The numbers were much higher when taking into consideration other types of mental illnesses and disorders.

As sheriffs and prison wardens became the unexpected and ill-equipped gatekeepers of this burgeoning population, they raised a troubling issue: were jails and prisons turning into America’s new mental hospitals?

With unprecedented access to prison therapy sessions, mental health treatment meetings, crisis wards, and prison disciplinary tribunals, FRONTLINE went inside Ohio’s state prison system to present a searing exploration of the complex topic of mental health behind bars and a moving portrait of the individuals at the center of this issue.

Explore additional reporting related to "The New Asylums" on our website:

#Documentary #Prison #MentalHealth #MentalIllness

FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Prologue
01:06 - People With Mental Illness Ending Up in Jails & Prisons
12:31 - How Prisoners With Severe Mental Illness Filter Into Maximum Security Prison
24:35 - Cycling Between the Prison Psychiatric Hospital and Maximum Security
34:41 - Solitary Confinement While Living With Mental Illness: ‘A Prison’s Prison’
38:56 - What Comes After Release For Prisoners With Mental Illness
52:49 - Credits
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As someone who works at a homeless shelter, I can tell you that shelters are also being treated as mental wards. Hospitals won't keep them, there aren't any options.

TallDude
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I am a retired social worker and hostage negotiator who worked in a mental health unit of a close-max prison. I followed mentally ill clients from state mental hospitals to community agencies, and then to prisons. The worst place for mental health for correctional officers and inmates is prison. Prisons make sane people mentally ill, and are much worse for mentally ill people.

geraldmiller
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I worked as a psych nurse for 17 years. I saw MANY people come through our unit that committed crimes, only to be taken to Rikers Island Prison the next day. It was CLEAR to see they were SEVERELY mentally ill and they SHOULD and NEEDED to be committed. The system is broken!!!!

m.pellicier
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This is very sad. America is full of people who can send billions to another country but can seem to never address the issues here in our own country. ..

Bossman
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As a retired critical care RN who grew up seeing my dad and grandmother in and out of psychiatric treatment, and then working several years in mental health, my older sister is now diagnosed bipolar with paranoid ideation, hallucinations, and paranoid delusions, and refuses to see her psychiatrist or take medication. She becomes aggressive and destroys property if pushed to seek treatment. The lack of outpatient mental health care, and the inability for family to get help if they refuse, we are all concerned this is where she will end up. She is in her 70s and more resistant and aggressive than she has ever been. There needs to be more mental health care, not less.

contentedspirit
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Prof. Fred Cohen, passed at 89 yrs old in 2022. (17 years after this video) He was a tireless advocate and helped to bridge the gap, between mental health, & prisoners. RIP Fred.

ardevenuta
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tragic that this aired in 2005 & yet we continue to struggle with the same issues.

wishing the best to all the folks featured & those actively struggling.

fernandoBOT
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My daughter has a mental illness and I am really learning how to take care of her and be patient. I have a lot more compassion on people with mental illnesses. This is a real problem in this world. I will continue to help my daughter and even any way I can support others out there

paulnovak
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I feel absolutely heartbroken for the young man that got released to the homeless shelter with no family or friends and came straight back. My heart hurts for him. 😢

marcimonroe
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We need to reopen mental health hospitals in this country. Not all mental health issues can safely be treated in the community. It is abusive and inhumane to leave ill people on the street until they get locked up on charges related to their mental health.

erintolva
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It is wrong to believe we need more prisons and less maximum security psychiatric institutions.
In fact, we need more psychiatric institutions and drug and alcohol rehabilitation institutions than prisons.

davidl.
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This 1st guy breaks my heart. They are all broken, alone, & ill. It's absolutely crushing to the human soul for them to live their lives so damaged. It's soul crushing to watch the inmate from this side of the bars. Sometimes life is so hard.

conniearco
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Did 12 years in Kentucky's prison system, and was admitted to the correctional psychiatric treatment unit multiple times and I can say it was nothing short of abuse. My soul is still broken after being out for 7 years

heyjustin
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I am a nurse. I have stated a million times we need the mental health asylums back that are well run with quality precautions in place. I don’t care about the cost. We are paying for it anyway by improper use of the ER, the jail, and the homeless shelters. Imagine being a schizophrenic and having the SWAT team bust in on you all the time! Obviously not the way to treat these people.

mamazannie
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I love how the EMT treated him, cause he new he was going through some things & something else was wrong with him, he didn't yell at him or treated him like u don't see them..this is how you truly do ur job period

albertjohnson
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This is so very sad. Please bring back our mental hospitals! Wouldn't this help reduce the cost of these prisons and the damage to society?

emilyflotilla
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In addition to penitentiaries being inappropriate for mentally ill people, it also creates an unnecessary burden on police and correctional facilities.

Scorch
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I work in a well-established and reputable mental hospital. It may as well be a prison. Complacency and stigma corrupt our system from top to bottom or from director to certified nursing assistant. Those of us who dare to criticize or report maltreatment end up regretting it.

daowest
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I am trying to get my son out of that system and have his mental health issues treated by private means. I’m learning that it really takes a commitment by a family member to take on this life-long role. This documentary validates all the observations I have made during my quest.

suzannejones
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It's a small thing, but I do really appreciate the originally aired on date being shown.

ExiledGobbo