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Many PTSD patients do not engage in criminal behavior, as a veteran active duty personnel pharmacists’ PTSD evaluation study revealed that 92 percent of the random interview respondents indicated that they had no trouble with the law, and 77 percent had never been incarcerated for the preceding ten years (Skupien et al., 2020). Confining the little percentage of PTSD individuals that have been arrested and potentially convicted of criminal activities to correctional facilities is counterproductive to public safety as well as to the effective management of the correctional institutions. Non-incarceration civil commitment is an increasingly effective alternative to addressing the PTSD individuals in criminal justice systems because it would not only guarantee medical treatment for these individuals but also restore the public confidence in the criminal systems’ ability to ensure public safety and crime control mission achievement. In this vein, PTSD individuals would be redirected to mental health programs, hence reducing the probability of recidivism. Alternatives to imprisonment are also crucial in preventing social stigmatization, which undermines the restoration of these individuals back to their communities and families once they leave the correctional facilities (Guertler & Szottowut, 2022).

Based on accurate neuroscience research relying on positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, there exists fast-growing evidence that PTSD transcends neuropsychological impairments (impulsiveness, inattention, and risk-taking) to actually undermine the ability of the individual to make appropriate decisions due to grounding (Grotto et al., 2022). PTSD incorporates highly traumatized, inappropriate decision-making processes. In this context, this mental health issue could result in crimes as a result of impaired rational decision-making. For example, distinguishing difference cases based on scanty information or black-and-white decision-making instead of using case details to make nuanced decisions that control the current scenario). Therefore, PTSD individuals need help navigating their mental disorder using appropriate interventions rather than imprisonment. PTSD infers an insufficient ability to think, thus denying a p">

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Individuals who commit crimes while suffering from a PTSD episode should be offered alternatives to incarceration in order to address the underlying mental health issues and promote rehabilitation rather than punishment.

Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Individuals with PTSD: Alternatives to Incarceration

 

More than 8 million adults live with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within a single year (Tanios et al., 2023). This amounts to about 3.6 percent of the population aged 18 years and above, which equates to approximately over 10 million people. Research indicates that PTSD is increasingly becoming an increasingly growing mental health issue among male and female veterans, with 11-20 percent of U.S. veterans exhibiting the signs and symptoms of PTSD on a given year (CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (CDC), n.d). In this vein, there is a need to understand the implications of this mental health issue and the possible alternatives to incarceration rather than imprisonment. Therefore, in this paper, I argue that non-incarceration civil commitment is the best alternative to incarceration for individuals suffering from PTSD.

The need to provide non-incarceration civil commitment as an alternative to imprisonment rather than confinement in a correctional facility is informed by the fact that PTSD as a mental health issue is often treated as a crime, thus denying the affected person (Veterans) the person of anticipated mental recovery. PTSD is characterized by subtle cognitive deficits that undermine brain areas, including the amygdala and hippocampus, which are crucial for emotional response and memory encoding, respectively (Grotto et al., 2022). Equally, traumatic experiences significantly undermine an individual’s ability to concentrate and may even prompt paradoxical behavioral reactions (impulsive, planning, or decision-making). According to Abdalla et al. (2020), PTSD has nowadays been linked to violent crime through neurobiological and psychological research avenues. For example, offenders with PTSD tend to demonstrate heightened impulsivity and a low capacity for emotional control – reactions that echo the characteristics of borderline personality disorder. Hence, having these redirecting perspectives, it is plausible to assert that PTSD is related to criminal behavior rather than motivated criminal behavior. PTSD individuals’ brain functioning poses questions about their ability to engage in rational cognitive thinking and processes normally characterized by criminal behavior motivation. Non-incarceration civil commitment interventions will allow these individuals to receive proper medical care rather than being imprisoned for manifesting symptoms of their mental disorder.

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Many PTSD patients do not engage in criminal behavior, as a veteran active duty personnel pharmacists’ PTSD evaluation study revealed that 92 percent of the random interview respondents indicated that they had no trouble with the law, and 77 percent had never been incarcerated for the preceding ten years (Skupien et al., 2020). Confining the little percentage of PTSD individuals that have been arrested and potentially convicted of criminal activities to correctional facilities is counterproductive to public safety as well as to the effective management of the correctional institutions. Non-incarceration civil commitment is an increasingly effective alternative to addressing the PTSD individuals in criminal justice systems because it would not only guarantee medical treatment for these individuals but also restore the public confidence in the criminal systems’ ability to ensure public safety and crime control mission achievement. In this vein, PTSD individuals would be redirected to mental health programs, hence reducing the probability of recidivism. Alternatives to imprisonment are also crucial in preventing social stigmatization, which undermines the restoration of these individuals back to their communities and families once they leave the correctional facilities (Guertler & Szottowut, 2022).

Based on accurate neuroscience research relying on positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, there exists fast-growing evidence that PTSD transcends neuropsychological impairments (impulsiveness, inattention, and risk-taking) to actually undermine the ability of the individual to make appropriate decisions due to grounding (Grotto et al., 2022). PTSD incorporates highly traumatized, inappropriate decision-making processes. In this context, this mental health issue could result in crimes as a result of impaired rational decision-making. For example, distinguishing difference cases based on scanty information or black-and-white decision-making instead of using case details to make nuanced decisions that control the current scenario). Therefore, PTSD individuals need help navigating their mental disorder using appropriate interventions rather than imprisonment. PTSD infers an insufficient ability to think, thus denying a p

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