Treatment of Mental Illness Lowers Arrest Rates, Saves Money

The article says that by taking your medication and being an outpatient that you do not get into as much trouble as someone who does not take their medication. “The study shows that providing mental health care is not only in the best interest or people with mental illness, but in the best interests of society, says Dr. Sarah Desmarais.” It is a win win situation for everyone.  I know I do not want to go back to jail.  I am happy I do take my medication and it helps me live a very successful life.  My life before I went to the state hospital was a mess no matter what I tried to not end back in prison or jail I would be back in for something stupid because of drinking.

The article goes on to say:  “The researchers identified 4,056 people who had been hospitalized for mental illness in 2004 or 2005 and then tracked them from 2005 to 2012.  The researchers were able to determine which individuals were receiving government subsidized medication and which were receiving government subsidized outpatient services, such as therapy.  The researchers were also able to determine who was arrested during the seven-year study period.”  In seven years a lot of changes could happen.  One of them is you would not want to do time.   It changes a person.  It is hard to get away from also once you do time.
That is why once I won my appeal on my last case I made a deal no parole no nothing just leave me alone and I will plead guilty.  It is hard when you’re leading that kind of lifestyle to finish parole or probation.  My conditional release from the state hospital was even harder.  I had UA’s every week and I had to have the money for them for five years. I did not drink but it still was a pain.  Although I was sober when I did it, also I had already made a decision to change my life.  It was hard although it was easier when I was able to have my daughter and grandkids I was on it for five years that is longer than parole or probation. “Our research shows that people receiving medication were significantly less likely to be arrested. Desmarais says.  Outpatient services also resulted in decreased likelihood of arrest.”  When you are not impaired you can make decisions that are right.
I know the second question is does it save money? “The researchers also compared criminal justice costs with mental health treatment costs. Individuals who were arrested received less treatment and each cost the government approximately $95,000 during the study period.  Individuals who were not arrested received more treatment and each cost the government approximately $68,000 during the study period.  It costs about $10.00 less per day to provide treatment and prevent crime.  That’s a good investment, Desmarais says.”  It saves money and it provides people with a mental illness to remain free.  To me that is the best word freedom.  I did a decade behind being locked up and I missed a lot that happen birthdays my daughter.  Too many Christmases were missed.

Almost Alcoholic

That is the title of a book that I was sent and am going to review. The book is written by Robert Doyle, MD, who is a psychiatrist and Joseph Nowinski, PhD, who is a clinical psychologist. Both of them have worked as mental health professionals and pursued further training in the area of substance abuse. I will do a few blogs about this book. My major in college was in the drug and alcohol field. I am a recovering alcoholic. I also went through the circle program in Pueblo, Colorado in the early 90s when it was the number one treatment center in the state. The book starts out with a case of a man who is on the way of becoming an almost alcoholic. After that story it talks about the view of two kinds of people and they would be alcoholics and non-alcoholics. It lists an alcoholic as: “Being unable to stop drinking, beginning from the first time he or she had a drink. Repeatedly having blackouts (i.e., can’t remember the next day what happened) after having only a few drinks. Being arrested multiple times for driving while intoxicated, becoming violent on more than one occasion.”(pg.15) I can attest to being just like all that was just said. I had three DUIs before I even turned twenty one. Everything I ever been arrested for has been alcohol related. I would not start drinking unless I knew there was enough alcohol to get drunk. That is something I never want to go back to. I was always angry at the way my life was going. I was asked if it was so horrible why I continued. My answer was I did not know another way. They offered me drug and alcohol treatment way before I went to the circle program. I turned them down. The first chapter goes on talking about cases of people who are almost alcoholic. Then it talks about how alcoholism was first talked about as a medical condition in the early nineteenth century by two physicians Scotsman Thomas Trotter and American Benjamin Rush. “Alcoholics Anonymous was published in 1939 that the idea that alcoholism was a disease with both physical and mental causes begin to take hold.”(pg.23) Alcoholics anonymous sure does help a lot of alcoholics, if you keep going to meeting it helps a lot. I do believe in rock bottom when you are there you finally understand that you do not want to sink further.