Chart comparing rates of recent serious psychological distress and diagnoses of bipolar disorder, PTSD, and schizophrenia among people in state prisons to the overall U.S. population. Rates in prisons are at least double those in the U.S. population for each condition

Data Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016 data analyzed by the Prison Policy Initiative;

Olfson, Mark et al., Trends in Serious Psychological Distress and Outpatient Mental Health Care of US Adults, JAMA Psychiatry 76(2): 152-61;

Treatment Advocacy Center, 2016 Prevalence of Treated and Untreated Severe Mental Illness by State;

National Institute of Mental Health, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Statistics. (Graph: Wendy Sawyer, 2022)

This graph originally appeared in Chronic Punishment: The unmet health needs of people in state prisons.

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