A B.C. man stuck in a Mexican jail for three years without trial is no longer being beaten by guards after a suicide attempt, but he still needs urgent medical care, according to a doctor who visited him.

Pavel Kulisek is displaying signs of mania and other mental illness because of the stress caused by his legal case and lack of oxygen to the brain after trying to hang himself in his cell last month, according to Dr. Ramona Penner, a family friend.

"He's had repeated blows to his head and a hypoxic injury, and he needs a CT scan," Penner told CTV News. "It might help show what's causing his inappropriate behaviour."

Kulisek tried to kill himself on the third anniversary of his arrest by Mexican authorities. He was on vacation with his family three years ago. A friend he met while racing motorcycles turned out to be a member of a Mexican drug cartel, and when the police arrested that man, they scooped up Kulisek as well.

He's been in jail ever since, fighting organized crime charges. He has had several procedural hearings, including one that ended in dropped drug charges, but no hearing that could result in a verdict.

Kulisek was becoming depressed and asked for a psychiatrist to visit him in jail, but didn't get one. Penner said he was also denied a chance to paint for three weeks, which is a hobby that helps him cope.

All of that likely combined to put immense pressure on him, Dr. Penner said.

Kulisek has now been transferred to a psychiatric prison in Mexico City, which is an improvement on Punta Grande, the maximum security prison in Guadalajara where Kulisek has spent most of his time, Penner said.

"He would be hit on the back of the head," Penner said Kulisek told her. "He thought it was so he didn't have to show the consular officials bruising. He's happy in this new situation that he has not been beaten."

Kulisek is manic, talks incessantly and has trouble engaging in a conversation, she said.

Penner says a CT scan would help determine where some of Kulisek's symptoms are coming from.

"This has reached a crisis point," she said, adding that one sure way of improving his mental state is resolving the case.

The Mexican consulate told CTV News that the psychiatric facility is modern and Kulisek would get appropriate psychiatric care there, but couldn't confirm whether a CT scan was possible.

Kulisek's MP Andrew Saxton visited Kulisek in prison more than a year ago. The Conservative government has stressed that it trusts the Mexican judicial system.

A CTV-W5 investigation discovered that Kulisek's case was riddled with problems, including using evidence from a corrupt cop and a prosecutor who had been accused of taking bribes from a rival drug cartel.

Liberal candidate Taleeb Noormohamed told CTV News that Canada's government should be doing more to help the Kuliseks.

"We need to make sure that due process is being followed for this family," he said. "Is his wife getting the information she needs? Are our consular responsibilities being followed?"

Prisoners only stay at the psychiatric facility for about six months, which means that Kulisek could return to the maximum-security prison before the trial.

"Will he try it again (if he's sent back)? I don't know. If this continues for much longer, he is definitely at risk for taking his own life," Penner said.