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Local psychiatrist: mental health and substance use disorders are common among people in jails; treatment in custody improves outcomes
Summary
Dr. Allison Lynch told the Johnson County Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee that national data show higher rates of mental illness and substance use disorders among people who are arrested or jailed, and that initiating evidence‑based treatment in custody can reduce re‑incarceration and mortality.
Dr. Allison Lynch, a psychiatrist and family physician, told the Johnson County Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee on April 10 that mental health and substance use disorders are highly prevalent among people who enter U.S. jails and that evidence-based treatment begun during incarceration improves later outcomes.
Nut graf: Lynch summarized national surveillance and research (citing SAMHSA and Department of Justice reports) to show jails concentrate people with mental illness and substance use disorders, that those conditions contribute to jail deaths, and that initiating treatment while people are detained increases treatment engagement and reduces recidivism.
Lynch said national surveys estimate about one in five adults in the U.S. has a mental health disorder…
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