As many as 70 percent of all adult inmates have co-occurring mental health and substance abuse problems. Yet, a review of data on more than 18,000 arrestees found that only 38 percent reported receiving treatment for either problem in their lifetimes, and only 16 percent received it within the last year.
That finding — along with the type, prevalence and treatment of co-occurring disorders — is the focus of a special section of APA's Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, published in March.
Three articles discuss female inmates, who are often neglected in both psychological research and treatment, says Kim T. Mueser, PhD, the journal's co-editor and executive director of the Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Boston University.
A studyopens in new window by Kimberly Houser, PhD, of Rowan University, and colleagues showed that women with co-occurring disorders were four times more likely to be disciplined for minor misconduct than women with either a substance use or psychiatric disorder alone. Another studyopens in new window reported that more than 75 percent of female detainees in drug treatment have psychiatric illnesses, such as depression and borderline personality disorder. A third studyopens in new window found that 80 percent of female detainees who used drugs had symptoms of depression, and 60 percent reported symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"These women who had co-occurring depression, anxiety and PTSD with a substance abuse problem were more likely to be engaging in HIV-risk behaviors," says Judith A. Cook, PhD, co-editor of the journal and professor and director of the Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Without treating these disorders effectively, women who leave those settings will go back to their communities and risk infecting other people."
Both editors say they hope the special section will spur more research and action on the lack of necessary treatment in prisons and detention centers.
"There's a core group of people going through this revolving door. They came to everyone's attention enough to lose their liberty. Couldn't this attention now be turned to the goal of delivering services, in the hope that they won't be locked up again?" Cook says.
Visit PsycNET to see the full lineup of articlesopens in new window.
— Stacy Lu