CLEVELAND – University Hospitals Case Medical Center’s (UHCMC) Department of Psychiatry released data on November 15, 2008 at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies conference in Chicago pertaining to the relationship of trauma, bipolar disorder, drug dependence and incarceration that carries staggering implications. The researchers found that men with psychiatric issues and drug dependence were significantly more likely to be imprisoned than those without.

Through a grant from the Health Resources Services Administration of the Health and Human Services, a study was conducted to examine the relationship between mental illness and the likelihood of being convicted of a legal offense and incarcerated within the Ottawa County Jail in Port Clinton, Ohio. To explore this topic further, a study of the prevalence and phenomenology of mental illness led to a hypothesis that males with bipolar and substance use disorders were more likely to be incarcerated.

UHCMC psychiatrists Edward Shirley, MD, and Joseph Calabrese, MD, directed a team of researchers where a sample population was recruited from the Ottawa County Jail between 2003 and 2004. Research statistics showed that 94% of the 164 inmates had a history of at least one psychiatric illness and 71 percent of the inmates had a substance use disorder.

After the booking process was completed, detainees were invited to participate in the study. Consented subjects underwent a research diagnostic interview based upon specific criteria using substance use and addiction severity index (ASI). The majority of inmates were Caucasian males who had committed minor offenses. Most inmates reported the total duration of lifetime incarceration was less than 24 months.

Researchers found that inmates diagnosed with bipolar disorder had a total of seven lifetime convictions, whereas the non-mentally ill inmates had a total of only two lifetime convictions. The inmates diagnosed with bipolar disorder had a total of 45 months spent in jail, whereas the non-mentally ill inmates had only spent 13 months in jail.

The triad of being physically abused, having bipolar disorder, and being drug dependent appeared to be potent predictors of legal convictions and time spent in jail. This triad increased the risk of being convicted by 1400% and increased the total time in jail 700%.

For every additional 12 months of education, the total time spent in jail decreased by 15%. For every additional 12 months of education, the total number of convictions decreased by 15% as well.

Just being physically abused, but not having a psychiatric illness increased the risk of having a legal conviction and total time in jail by about 100%. Of the inmates with bipolar disorder, only 30% had been previously diagnosed and treated.

The initial presentation was given at the “International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies” in Chicago by Dr. Shirley and Toyomi Goto, MA.