And of those, one in five will get appropriate treatment. The two most common mental illnesses in America are depression and anxiety. More severe mental disorders include schizophrenia and manic depression, which affect an estimated 3.5 million Americans, according to The Treatment Advocacy Center, a Virginia-based non profit. In prison, people with mental illness receive medication daily and their disorders are managed. But, for one reason or another, treatment often stops when they're released.
Treatment stops and they digress.
When that happens, those with severe mental illnesses may become violent. However, in this country, people can't be arrested on the guess that they will commit a crime. In fact, the only way to lock up non criminals is to have them committed to a mental institution. To be involuntarily committed, witnesses must prove the person is an immediate danger to himself or others. Talk or plans of suicide is enough to prove a person is a threat to himself, but proving danger to others isn't so easy.