Sometimes when mentally ill people people land in jail they don't realize how mentally ill they are. It can be harder to advocate for yourself (or know when it is folly to keep advocating) if you are seriously mentally ill and have not had any access to healthcare or even kindness. The jails throw these people into solitary confinement and then the prosecutors threaten more jail time if they don't plead guilty. The public defenders have no time to get to know what happened other than what is on the police report. They see their clients for a few minutes right before the victim of the brutality is due in court. All the solitary confinement coupled with untreated mental illness and poverty just increase the likelihood that the police and court treatment further traumatizes those already in the midst of serious crisis.

Plus, many of us (including myself) don't disclose our illness to society at large, fearing it could hurt our job prospects. In order for things to improve, perhaps we need to be more open about our illness. One of the hard things about being open is that some of us feel unsure about our about our exact diagnosis. I definitely have anxiety problems but that can be symptomatic of so many things. Even with a "serious" diagnosis, I have seen disagreement between psychiatrists. It would sure be easier if there was an exact X-ray, blood or DNA test that could make it all more clear.