The law-and-order policies introduced in recent years have contributed to sharp increases in the overall prison population, doubling in the UK since I started training as a doctor, while in the US it has more than tripled. Although crime rates in general have fallen in that period, the steep rise in imprisonment rates over time (which is higher in England and Wales than anywhere in Western Europe) means that the relative number of people with mental health issues who are incarcerated has also risen.3
