Resources to Understand Mental Health, Police Violence, and Incarceration this Mental Health Awareness Month
- May 20
- 4 min read
This May marks Mental Health Awareness Month, providing a reminder to all of us to reflect on the troubling links between the prison system and the treatment of those with mental health conditions in our society. In the United States, the history of criminalizing those with mental illness reaches back to the 1700s and continues to the present day.
Mental Illness and Police Violence
In 2024 a study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that of all people injured or killed in police shootings between 2015-2020, 22.6% were individuals who exhibited signs of "suicidal or self-harming behaviors, substance use, diagnosis of serious mental illness relevant to the incident, disability that may have been misinterpreted as a mental or behavioral health issue" or involved transport to a behavioral health facility. The rate at which police shootings were fatal in these incidents was 67% compared to 55.3% for all cases. One recent example is from this February when an officer with the Hartford, Connecticut police department fatally shot Steven Jones after his sister called 911 to seek assistance for his mental health crisis.
Incarceration and the Exacerbation of Mental Health Conditions
According to the Prison Policy Initiative (PPI), in 2016 over half of the people incarcerated in state prisons reported having a "recent or prior history of mental health problems." This is approximately double the rate of mental illness estimated amongst all adults in the United States. Despite this staggering statistic, the PPI notes that only 26% of those in state prison had reported receiving mental health assistance since being incarcerated.
Not only are people with mental illnesses incarcerated at alarmingly disproportionate rates, but the experience of imprisonment can exacerbate existing mental health issues and create new ones, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and more. This can leave those who are experiencing new or worsening mental health symptoms with serious obstacles upon re-entry into their communities.
Resources to Learn More
At Books to Prisoners (BTP), we sometimes receive letters from incarcerated people who, in addition to their book requests, touch upon the toll incarceration can have on their mental health. As one anonymous contributor to BTP's book "Dear Books to Prisoners," wrote:
"How do I explain what books, magazines, etc. mean to people kept in cages? I don't. If you have never been locked up and faced the mental, emotional, and physical...never-ending void of tenseness and complete powerlessness about, well everything, my trying would be a waste of words. Just know that something to read - anything - while locked up can ease whatever you're going through, whatever you're facing. A book - we prisoners re-live freedom in them. With a book - we are no longer "inside" of a concrete block. Through a book - we are, for a short time, whole again...we are...men."
For this Mental Health Awareness Month, we've compiled a short list of articles, resources, and organizations that expand on the connections between mental health and carceral systems. Please join us in learning more about this critical issue by exploring the links below.
A first-person account from the Prison Journalism Project about post-traumatic stress disorder that can arise from incarceration.
Podcast: In-care-ceration
A six-episode podcast detailing how "people in need of mental health care end up losing their freedom, whether in a hospital, jail, or prison," with a particular focus on Washington state.
Story Collection: "7 Stories on the Plight of Mental Illness in Prison"
A collection of stories written by incarcerated people on the impacts of incarceration and police violence on mental health.
An essay about the difficulty of accessing mental health treatment in prison, particularly for those who are not formally diagnosed prior to being incarcerated.
Organization: Project LETS
From their website: "We specialize in building just, responsive, and transformative peer support collectives and community mental health care structures that do not depend on state-sanctioned systems that trap our folks in the medical/prison-industrial complex. We work for and with multiply marginalized folks in our communities to provide access, political education, & material resources that are needed to survive and thrive."
This short book by Katie Tastrom provides an overview of the connections between abolition and the disability justice movement. From the book description: "Because disabled people are much more likely than nondisabled people to be locked up in prisons, jails, and other sites of incarceration, abolitionists, and others critical of carceral systems must incorporate a disability justice perspective into our work."
Get Help
If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis, help is available. Project LETS has compiled this list of crisis lifelines that do not work with the police. Visit their website to see all of their options. Below are the national helplines they included.
Name and Link | Number | Description from Website |
Call Blackline: | (800) 604-5841 | "Call BlackLine® provides a space for peer support, counseling, reporting of mistreatment, witnessing and affirming the lived experiences for folxs who are most impacted by systematic oppression with an LGBTQ+ Black Femme Lens. Call BlackLine® prioritizes BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). By us for us." |
(888) 407-4515 | "Our peer support line is answered by a trained peer supporter who has their own first-hand experience with psychiatric diagnosis, trauma, addiction, and/or other interrupting challenges. This line does not collect personal information, perform assessment, or call crisis or the police." | |
(844) 762-8483 | "StrongHearts Native Helpline 1-844-7NATIVE (762-8483) is a safe, anonymous, and confidential domestic and sexual violence helpline for Native Americans and Alaska Natives, offering support and advocacy." | |
(888) 843-4564 | "All of our support volunteers identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ family, and are here to serve the entire community, by providing free & confidential peer-support, information, and local resources through national hotlines and online programs." | |
877-565-8860 | "Trans Lifeline provides trans peer support for our community that’s been divested from police since day one. We’re run by and for trans people." | |
(313) 662-8209 | "Non-carceral crisis, warmline, and group support, centering multiply marginalized communities. Fully grassroots. Built by and for community." |
Authored by Siri McGuire
