CO: mentally ill, in jail

Mental Block - County inmates battle system, own demons:

Wearing a screaming-orange jumpsuit and shackles around his ankles, Dave describes what it is like to get anxious, to experience massive mood swings, to reach euphoric highs then hit crippling lows as an inmate in the Douglas County Jail. "I can't sleep," he said, shifting in his bright blue chair. "Thoughts race through my head. I make terrible choices. Impulsive."

He is not alone. About 70 percent of the inmates housed at the Douglas County Jail show signs of mental illness...

It's disheartening, as is this quote:

"Many [with mental illnesses] stay incarcerated longer because they don't navigate the public defender system well... It's a problem nationally. The problem is not that they are huge criminals who need to be incarcerated for a long time, they just don't navigate the system as well as their counterparts without mental illnesses."