Prison mental health screening tools: Choices and sensitivity

Mental illness in a critical issue in prisons, and according a report published by the Prison Reform Trust for this year’s mental health awareness week (PRF, 2017), it is worsening. The figures indicate that 49% of women and 23% of men in UK prisons suffer from both anxiety and depression (general population rate: 15%); while 25% of female and 15% of male prisoners exhibit symptoms indicative of psychosis (general population rate: 4%). Even more alarmingly, self-harm in UK prisons reached a record high of 40,161 (up 7,848 from 2015), and the suicide rate has doubled since 2013, with 113 deaths in 2016.