Study: Women Inmates Have Higher Rate of Mental Health Problems

WASHINGTON — Incarcerated women have a significantly higher rate of mental health problems than men who are incarcerated, according to a recent study.

In state prisons, 73 percent of women prisoners suffer from mental health problems, while 55 percent of males have the same mental ailments, according to a study released by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. In local jails, 75 percent of women inmates and 63 percent of incarcerated men have mental health problems, according to the study.

Of the women housed in state prisons and local jails who responded to the survey, 23 percent said that within the last 12 months they had been diagnosed with a mental disorder by a mental health professional — nearly three times the rate of male inmates.

Women ages 24 or younger had the highest rate of mental health problems, while those over age 55 had the lowest rate of mental health problems. The survey revealed that white women had the highest rate of mental health problems (63 percent), followed by blacks (55 percent) and Hispanics (46 percent).

A tally of the number of both men and women that suffer from mental health problems reveals that more than half of inmates in U.S. jails and prisons suffer from mental health problems, according to the study.

Nearly a quarter of inmates in state and local jail facilities who had a mental health problem were incarcerated three or more times. About 74 percent of state inmates and 76 percent of jail inmates met the criteria for substance depen- dence or abuse. About 63 percent of state inmates who had a mental health problem had used drugs in the month prior to their arrest, compared to 49 percent of inmates without a mental health problem. State inmates who had a mental health problem were twice as likely as those without a mental health problem to have been homeless in the year before their arrest. State inmates with a mental health problem were twice as likely as other inmates to have been injured in a fight while incarcerated. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

The study, which is based on findings reported by inmates, rather than an official diagnosis, revealed that 65 percent of local jail inmates suffer from mental health problems. Of those inmates, 54 percent reported symptoms of mania, 23 percent reported major depression and 24 percent reported a psychotic disorder, such as delusions or hallucinations.

In state prisons, 56 percent of all inmates have mental health problems and 43 percent had symptoms of mania, 23 percent had major depression, and 15 percent had a psychotic disorder.

The study found that 45 percent of federal prisoners had mental health problems, of which 35 percent had symptoms of mania, 16 percent had major depression, and 10 percent had a psychotic disorder.