Summary
The prevalence of mental health problems among the prison population is well-documented. Prior to the pandemic the Institute of Psychiatry estimated that over half of people in prison had poor mental health including depression, posttraumatic stress disorder and anxiety, approximately 15% had specialist mental health needs and 2% were thought to have acute and serious mental health problems. The identification of mental health issues relies, to a large extent, on self disclosure so the scale of the problem is inevitably underestimated, and will have been exacerbated by the pandemic.
In this response to Mental Health in Prison Inquiry, Nacro looks in depth at the use of prison for those with mental health needs and mental health support in prison.