Participants spent less time in jail. After contact with MHC, participants on average demonstrated significant improvement. After contact with MHC, new bookings decreased for those who opted into the program, but not for those didn't. By comparison The study also looked at 77 mentally ill defendants whose cases were adjudicated two years before Mental Health Court. As treatment increased, detention decreased.
Mental illness is more common than cancer, diabetes or heart disease.
More than 5 million Americans suffer from an acute episode of mental illness each year. One in every five families is affected by a severe mental illness such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or major depression. The No. 1 reason for hospital admissions nationwide is a biological psychiatric condition. On average, about 21 percent of the county's hospital beds are filled by people with a mental illness. That includes direct costs of hospitalizations and medications and indirect costs of lost wages, family caregiving and losses due to suicide.