Jail: Sensitivity lacking regarding mental health

Re: "Inmate's family sues county over jail suicide" (TNT, 11-16).

The comments made by Ed Troyer were concerning in regards to the death of Jesse Lowry. Lowry’s criminal record should not overshadow his clear history of mental health issues.

Lowry suffered a traumatic brain injury during the most pivotal development stage of our brains. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia in addition to four other different diagnoses as documented by the Health Services Department.

The leading cause of death for individuals who suffer from schizophrenia is suicide. Males make up 75 to 95 percent of these deaths. Prior hospitalizations or suicide attempts raise the risk of suicide by as much as 20 percent.

With this knowledge, it is unacceptable to completely blame Lowry for the way that his life ended. Troyer’s responses completely disregard the fact that Lowry wrote notes explaining that he was hearing voices at the time he was held.

It is unnerving to find that employees who work for a system holding large numbers of people with various mental illnesses are either uneducated in the mental health arena or completely indifferent to these victims.

The statements and attitudes reflect lack of empathy and responsibility that we as a community should expect from an institution as influential as the Pierce County Jail.

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 1:44 PM with the headline "Jail: Sensitivity lacking regarding mental health."