Dr my brother-in-law was dx with HIV some years back and was just recently dx with bipolar. He was recently arrested and is in jail awaiting his trial. He wrote his brother and I a letter today and told us that he is depressed, confused and feels as though he is fading away. That he is getting sicker because they are not supplying him with all his meds and just the stress of being in jail for something he says he did not do is to much for him to handle and he is not sure he will make it through all this. The letter crushed his brother and myself and because we live another state and he is in jail we are unsure what we can do to help. We both wrote him letters telling him he is not alone and to stay strong that we are here for him but I was wondering if you had any advise you could give me on helping him. Maybe some self help things I can offer him to help with the bipolar or just staying positive? Anything will help we are very worried about him!! Thank you

The first thing to do is to contact a lawyer or legal aid service in the area in which he is incarcerated. The corrections system is obliged to provide medical treatment for inmates who are suffering from medical and/or psychiatric illnesses.

Another alternative is to start a letter writing campaign to government officials who are responsible for the corrections system, to the board of health and to the medical and psychiatric societies in that region.

You can also speak to journalists and news media to try and get someone interested in this situation as a news story. The more public your brother-in-law's situation becomes, the more likely to get some action from the corrections system.