Key Mental Health Issues in the Criminal Justice and Emergency Medical Systems

Abstract

The first two chapters in this book have attempted to describe how complex it is to define a mental illness as opposed to a simple physical illness. It is common knowledge that if people cough and sneeze, their throats hurt, and they have a slight fever, they may have a cold, allergy or other similar disease. Many of the signs (what can be observed) and symptoms (what is experienced) that accompany mental illnesses overlap and make them more complicated to diagnose. Some of these signs and symptoms, albeit at a milder level, are with us from time to time. For example, most of us have felt anxious, sad or depressed at times. Some students reading this book who expect to take an examination afterwards may feel some anxiety as they read and study, especially if there are new terms that must be learned. If others watched as that student studied, they might notice signs such as a tic, hand wringing, the twist of a piece of paper, a rash or other physical indication of anxiety. Those persons might also feel symptoms of nervousness, upset stomach, or headache, but unless they disclosed these feelings to others, they might not be known. Most people are more forgetful and inattentive, and they cannot concentrate as well when something is bothering them. They may even have a sleepless night or two. Children may wake up with nightmares or night terrors from time to time, but that doesn’t give them a mental illness.