The Criminalization of Mental Illness With Krista Cezair and Brittany Packnett Cunningham

Content Warnings: This episode includes discussions of suicidality, psychosis, violence, and police brutality.

Over the last number of years, we’ve made significant progress in destigmatizing mental health care -- many of us openly talk about going to therapy, follow therapists on social media, and even trade tips on dealing with side effects of taking popular medication for depression and anxiety. 

However, this de-stigmatization hasn’t reached all kinds of mental illness or all kinds of people who struggle with their mental health. Some people are even criminalized for how they struggle with mental illness and their inability to access treatment. Living with a mental health condition can even get you killed. Research shows that nearly half of people killed by the police have a disability, most specifically a mental health disability. If we add race into the mix, the picture is even worse.

Today we’re going to talk about the ways that the carceral system criminalizes Black and disabled people. And how, unfortunately, our system of policing isn’t an aberration, but instead a reflection of society at large. 

Writer, researcher, and poet, Krista L.R. Cezair, and writer, activist and educator, Brittany Packnett Cunningham, join us to discuss. 

Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript and more.

For more, follow: 

Krista @KLRCezair

Brittany @MsPackyetti

@KendallCiesemier

@Ms_Magazine