The New Asylums (full documentary) | Are Prisons the New Mental Hospitals? | FRONTLINE

Nearly half a million people in America’s prisons and jails were dealing with mental illness in 2005. FRONTLINE examined mental health in the prison system. (Aired 2005)

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When “The New Asylums” was originally released, 16 percent of America’s prison population could be classified as having a severe mental illness such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder, according to National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. The numbers were much higher when taking into consideration other types of mental illnesses and disorders.

As sheriffs and prison wardens became the unexpected and ill-equipped gatekeepers of this burgeoning population, they raised a troubling issue: were jails and prisons turning into America’s new mental hospitals?

With unprecedented access to prison therapy sessions, mental health treatment meetings, crisis wards, and prison disciplinary tribunals, FRONTLINE went inside Ohio’s state prison system to present a searing exploration of the complex topic of mental health behind bars and a moving portrait of the individuals at the center of this issue.

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