How to Help a Loved One With a Mental Illness If They’ve Been Arrested for a Crime

Mental illness is a big problem in the U.S. More and more people every year are being diagnosed with depression, anxiety, mood disorders, etc. Most people with a mental illness retain their ability not to harm others or commit a crime. Some more extreme mental health issues remove one’s ability to temporarily or indefinitely judge between reality and imagined situations. If your loved one has a mental illness and has been arrested for a crime, you need to hire a lawyer right away.

Someone With a Mental Illness Might Not Remain Silent

Someone with a mental illness might not remain silent as is their right. He or she might say too much to the arresting officers. Hiring a lawyer right away prevents the police from interrogating your loved one to the point where the police can make a case against him or her. That would be a violation of your loved one’s Miranda rights, and only a lawyer can help.

Extreme Mental Illness May Mean a Lesser Sentence

If your loved one has schizophrenia, delusions, hallucinations, etc., and has not been taking medications recently, there’s a root cause for the criminal charges he or she faces. While it will not remove the charges completely, it may help the attorney seek an alternative route to freeing your family member or reducing the sentence after your family member is found guilty. If your loved one wasn’t guilty of the crime, the mental illness angle in the case may still be the way out.

Be Prepared With Medical Records

To back a plea of mental illness, your lawyer will need medical records. Gather up the medical history for mental health and hospitalizations (if applicable) and give them to your lawyer. It will help the lawyer and your family member’s case immensely and maybe make things go quicker.