Mental Illness Abuse is Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Last night I was lying in bed with my husband watching the news on WTOC when a report came on that caught my attention. Chatham County Sheriff, John Wilcher was talking about the mental health situation at the county jail. It’s infuriatingly heartbreaking to me, the sister and caretaker of a 34-year-old mentally ill brother, to hear stories about the mentally ill, especially when the first thing out of the mouths of community leaders and media professionals is a concern for the safety of the corrections officers and the public rather than the mentally ill.
“When you’re being treated for a mental health issue — from bipolar disorder to schizophrenia — don’t get arrested in Chatham County.” says Amanda Labrot, the anchor from WTOC.
It’s a flippant comment to begin what turns out to be a devastating revelation to those of us who care for, have loved ones with, or are people with a mental illness. What’s worse, the emphasis is more on the safety of the corrections officers and the public than it is on the unconstitutional maltreatment of the mentally ill in the Chatham County Detention Center.
Ms. Labrot then says, “Whatever assistance you were getting for medication will be cut off before the cell door slams.” Let me introduce you to a little Supreme Court Case I found on the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) website, Estelle v. Gamble. This case is important because it states that withholding medical treatment from someone in prison is cruel and unusual treatment.
Apparently, the Chatham County Detention Center has been inflicting cruel and unusual punishment upon the mentally ill and now that officers have been beaten up ___ many times it is officially a problem.
Mental Health stigma is not new. It’s a constant and consistent problem in this country. Name one mass shooting and yup, you guessed it, the shooter(s) had a mental illness. Mentally challenged children and adults are picked on, treated with indifference until something bad happens and then suddenly it’s their fault. Not the fault of a society that fails the mentally ill in every way then locks them away and refuses to provide these human beings with necessary life improving drugs and health care while incarcerated.
Think I’m exaggerating? Let me tell you the story of my brother, a sweet person when he’s on his meds and receiving care, but a real problem when he’s off his meds.
My baby brother had a fever related seizure at the age of one. While at the hospital he had a second seizure due to an allergic reaction to the medication he was given. Our vibrant, healthy little brother was suddenly in newborn status, again.
Throughout his childhood, doctors told my mother not to worry. They told her that he would catch up to other children his age by 10-years-old. At 10-years-old they bumped it to 12-years-old, and so it went until he was 18 without a mental health history, diagnosis, treatment, or health insurance. We couldn’t get him state medical care because he didn’t have a mental health history.
Mentally challenged children and adults are picked on, treated with indifference until something bad happens and then suddenly it’s their fault.
He went six years without any medical care. When I stepped in, he was living in a cemetery next to a church in Auburn, MA. It took me almost a month to get him to move in with my husband, sister and I. He later let me know, that the cemetery was the only place he could think of to live. My brother was angry all the time and had irrational thoughts he couldn’t eradicate. His unsettled mind made it difficult to socialize with people.
Getting him in my home and telling the Social Security Office he needed disability status for mental health issues wasn’t enough. Thanks to apathetic doctors he had no medical history of mental illness. It was suggested to my mother to have the police become involved in one of his violent episodes. Yes, we had to risk his getting arrested to get him mental health care.
After years of struggle and having to get the police involved to get him the medical care he needed, my brother was well enough to say, “I can see how different I am and I don’t want to be off the meds.”
People have still treated him deplorably. He’s socially ostracized, medically ignored, and a very lonely person because society finds him undesirable. All he wants is people to talk to and friends who will play video games and Dungeons and Dragons with him. He can’t even find that. To make matters worse, we moved to Georgia because we could not financially support ourselves in Massachusetts.
The only good thing for my brother, in Georgia, has been The Reed House. The Reed House is a mental health clubhouse where people like my brother can go and spend the day with similar people. He gets to socialize for a few hours if we can get him there.
I’m sorry that the corrections officers are getting hurt, but it’s the systems fault for denying the mentally ill proper mental health care and medication.
Mental health care in Georgia is a joke. In Massachusetts, my brother saw his therapist one to two times per week. Here in Georgia his mental health provider only wants to see him once every two months. Calling to get an appointment is insane. He can never get one in time to get his prescription renewed on time. He’s constantly going without his prescription for weeks at a time thanks to Gateway medical.
I can’t even find a non-Gateway psychiatrist office to take him. I tried changing him from Medicare/Medicaid to BCBS MediBlue, but no, that doesn’t make a difference. He was finally able to get a primary care physician but not a decent psychiatrist or therapist. We have exhausted the insurance company’s list of psychiatric providers and found no one to care for him other than Gateway, which is more of a mental health disservice center. He no longer has a mental health care plan as he did in Massachusetts. Instead, he has a “when to come in and obtain his new prescription” plan.
The city of Savannah isn’t much better than Gateway or the Chatham County Detention Center. I wanted to take my brother to the St. Patrick’s Day celebration, and he said he didn’t want to go. When I inquired, he said that he had been told by friends at The Reed House that if he went, to be careful because the police will lock him up for being mentally ill at the St. Patrick’s festival.
Irrational you think? What’s that you say about perception? It’s all about perception. The mentally ill of Savannah, feel it’s too risky for them to go and enjoy a public festival for fear of being treated like a criminal and arrested like one. There’s a reason they feel that way. It’s not just in their minds. Not every feeling they have is irrational, especially when properly medicated.
So, here we are coming back around to that WTOC report on the mentally ill in the Chatham County Detention Center. Am I shocked? No. I also don’t think it’s just a Georgia thing. Mental health is stigmatized by the media, religions, society, etc. If someone did something bad, they are out of their minds. There’s no other explanation? Heaven forbid we take the blame for our misdeeds, so we blame it on mental illness. Those who are mentally ill suffer because of this perception as do their families, friends and loved ones.
I’m sorry that the corrections officers are getting hurt, but it’s the systems fault for denying the mentally ill proper mental health care and medication. Yes, that is cruel and unusual punishment and the Sheriff’s Office, and corrections systems in charge of the detention center should get sued for violations of the Eighth Amendment rights of the mentally ill that are inhumanely caused undue suffering in that facility. It’s not their fault when you have denied them their basic medical needs.
Do you think because there are no outward injuries that this isn’t cruel and unusual? I asked my baby brother to describe what it’s like to be off his meds. He said he’s easy to get angered about almost anything. He gets debilitating depression and is incapable of socializing with people when he’s in this state. At the same time, he gets even more angry and depressed when he can’t socialize. Let’s not forget that there are mental health medications that you cannot cut cold turkey because they have side effects up to and including suicide. Therefore, any mental illness related suicide should be prosecuted against the Chatham County Detention Center.
So, Sheriff Wilcher, if you were worried about the corrections officers and the general public you never would have taken your mentally ill prisoners off their life improving medications in the first place. It’s not that you need to find the money to provide special facilities and medical care for the mentally ill prisoner. They always should have had their medications and mental health care. You, the city, county or state should never have decided you didn’t have the money to care for mentally ill prisoners. It has always been your legal responsibility.


