RICHMOND, Va. – Nearly a year later, it's still unclear how a mentally ill Virginia man died in jail after being arrested for stealing $5 worth of snacks.

When Jamycheal Mitchell was arrested in April 2015, the 24-year-old was under the delusion his father owned the Portsmouth convenience store.

By the time he was found dead in a feces-smeared cell four months later, he'd lost a fifth of his body weight, while still awaiting trial or treatment.

Reporter Gary Harki, who has pursued the case for the Virginian-Pilot, says a lawsuit filed by Mitchell's family maintains Jamycheal was tortured.

"What nobody has done is really investigate what happened in the Hampton Roads Regional Jail,” he states. “One inmate said, according to the lawsuit, he was treated 'like a circus animal,' dragged, mocked, beaten. But they're all allegations."

A lawyer for Hampton Roads Regional Jail staff denies any wrongdoing.

Virginia State Police are considering an investigation and the F-B-I is considering looking into whether Mitchell’s civil rights were violated.

Harki says a court order for Mitchell to be transferred to Eastern State Hospital ended up stuck in a drawer by mistake. He says one concern the case raises is that a lack of treatment means too many mentally ill Virginians end up in jail or on the street.

And Harki says police officials insist they're not the right people to be on the front lines of a mental health crisis.

"They're not mental health workers, they're police officers,” he states. “They've had to really learn how to deal with people who are maybe seeing things, or hearing voices, or see them as a threat."

Virginia lawmakers have worked to improve mental health access in the last few years, although Harki says it doesn't seem to be enough. He's convinced there may be other, more important questions here as well.

"Nobody has gotten to the central question of what happened in the jail,” he states. “Is it a problem just with the mentally ill being in these situations? Or is it also a problem with how those facilities are run?"




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Mental health counselors focused on Nebraska's high rate of binge drinking during Alcohol Awareness Month, which just wrapped up.

Alcohol abuse is often associated with other addictions. Nebraska's binge drinking rate is among the highest in the nation and the number of alcohol-related deaths is on the rise. Alcohol was blamed for at least 720 fatalities in 2020, the latest year data were available.

Aileen Brady, CEO of the Community Alliance in Omaha, said alcohol abuse and addiction affects families and friendships but can also lead to safety issues among employees who may be alcohol dependent.

"If their reactions are not as sharp, if they're not sleeping well and if they're distracted with the sense of needing to have that drink, it's going to affect our workplaces, as well," Brady explained.

Brady adds alcohol and other substance abuse disorders affect at least 65% of Nebraskans seeking mental health treatment at Community Alliance. Nationwide, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health said more than 224-million people 12 and older report having consumed alcohol during their lifetime.

Brady added it is common among alcohol addicted people or those who abuse it to assume drinking will improve their mood, which she said can happen temporarily, but long-term, has the opposite effect.

"That might last for a period of hours, and then once they stop the drinking and they are coming down off of that use of alcohol, then the depressant sets in," Brady observed.

Brady added Community Alliance continues to dispel myths about the effects of alcohol and raise awareness about the negative physical and mental health outcomes of drinking too much.


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Budding flowers, warmer temperatures and longer days are welcome signs to many in Maryland after the long, dark months of winter. Some people might believe warmer weather improves mental health after seasonal depression in the winter months, but that's not always the case. Many people experience increased mental-health struggles as spring rolls around.

When people's feeling in the springtime doesn't meet their expectations, said Cynthia Cubbage, director of family and post-adopt service for the Barker Adoption Foundation, it can make mental-health issues worse.

"When people are looking forward to spring because it's a time of renewal, and those expectations don't happen, and then nothing gets better for them because it's deeper than that," she said, "then they get really stressed and depression can really set in. And it's because of the expectations."

Suicide rates rise in the spring and not winter, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Researchers find that seasonal allergies play a role. A person with rhinitis, which causes allergy symptoms, is more than 40% more likely to be depressed.

Cubbage said there are many ways people can combat those feelings: Get outdoors as much as possible and get out socially as well. But she reminded folks that sleep is vital.

"Definitely prioritize sleep, even though we're having more daylight," she said. "It makes people want to stay up longer - that they should be doing things - and to remember that's a big transition for your body. They should still prioritize their sleep. If they were still going to sleep at eight or they were putting their kids down at eight, that should continue."

Cubbage added that, if you continue to feel depressed or down even after trying those suggestions, it's best to seek out professional mental-health help.

A bill headed to the Montana governor's desk would qualify post-traumatic stress disorder under workers' compensation for the state's first responders.

PTSD is a mental-health condition that someone may develop after a traumatic event. It can result in a range of symptoms from a negative mood and reactivity to flashbacks and difficulty sleeping. First responders report experiencing PTSD at about five times the rate of the general population, according to Relief Mental Health.

George Richards, who serves as president of both the Montana State Firefighters' Association and the Montana State Council of Professional Firefighters, said suicide is one of the top two leading causes of death among firefighters.

"Firefighters, police officers, paramedics, EMTs, experience - working on a gunshot victim or a fatality wreck or a kid death - major trauma-critical calls that really affect the brain," he said.

Richards said the bill had bipartisan support, although some opponents were concerned with the costs. The bill passed a House vote Friday, just before today's observance of Workers Memorial Day.

Until now, Montana was one of roughly a dozen states without a PTSD-related workers comp policy for first responders. Richards said treatment for PTSD will also help with worker retention.

"We want it recognized so they can get the treatment and return to work as a healthy individual with a clear mind," he said.

Treatment can take different forms, Richards noted, from peer-to-peer support to residential treatment programs.


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