Over a five-month period, about half of the persons admitted to the Dorothea Dix Hospital pre-trial evaluation unit (a special unit designed to evaluate persons with legal charges who may have a mental illness) had at least one prior admission to a state hospital and one to the criminal justice system. Over 80% had been involved in both systems.
We provide better treatment for mental illness to include closer community follow-up upon discharge from prison and state hospitals, could we help prevent further criminal involvement?
One possibility is to recommend a pilot project to follow a group of high-risk patients to see if our assumptions are correct.
The Center's Dr. Brian Sheitman is working with the UNC-Chapel Hill Department of Psychology, Central Regional Hospital, Dorothea Dix Hospital, and the NC Department of Corrections.
Stay tuned for more: A manuscript on this topic was recently accepted for publication in the Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology.
In the 1950s, some therapists working with families thought that schizophrenia was caused by bad parenting, and coined the term "schizophrenogenic," (causing schizophrenia), which was usually applied to mothers. While fun to say, this term was neither helpful nor accurate, putting unwarranted blame on families already struggling to come to terms with the burdens of a chronic illness.
It is true that high-stress family situations may exacerbate the illness when families fail to recognize problems, to initiate early treatment, or to provide good communication, problem-solving, boundaries, and support; but these things do not cause schizophrenia.
Founded in January 2009, the Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health is part of the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Addressing quality of care and workforce development issues in North Carolina's mental health system, the Center and its clinical programs are supported by a three-year grant from The Duke Endowment, as well as Cross Area Services Program (CASP)
funds. The program operates in conjunction with multiple university, state, and community-based partners.
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