Anxiety is a body’s reaction towards the frightening or critical situations. It is mostly presented in the form of worry, nervousness, or fear. In such situations, the body tries to fight against the threat or run away from it. Whenever a body comes in such situations it starts showing some physical symptoms which are different based on the types of anxiety. This is one of the very common issues in people especially to those who have been sentenced to imprisonment.
Anxiety in prisoners is curable, either the treatment can be complex if the person is suffering from more than one anxiety. That’s why the processes involved in the cure of anxiety are specifically personalized for each individual. The focus of many individuals after being in prison is to focus more on how to improve mental health. Many of the standard methods are considered very effective in improving mental status which includes the therapies, medications, treatments, etc.
Few of the treatments to cope with depression and anxiety after being prisoned are as follows:
Table of Contents
Through medications
Medications are one of the effective and safe means of managing anxiety. They are mostly used along with the therapies as well for the early sure. Whereas, based on the harshness of the symptoms the period of medications may vary from short-term to the long term and based on gender as well. According to the Ministry of Justice found that almost 23% of male and 49% of female prisoners suffer from depression and anxiety. Even though it usually takes some time for the drugs to perform better in patients if taken as instructed by the doctors. The medications of anxiety usually have antidepressants and sedatives for giving peace to the mind but it is prescribed based on the severity of the symptoms.
Through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is considered as solution-oriented therapy regarding anxiety. This therapy works best by concentrating more on identifying, analyzing, examining, understanding, and altering the thinking and behavior patterns of the patient.
This theory works on two components:
1- Cognitive therapy:
Cognitive theory inspects factors such as negative thoughts, understandings, or cognitions.
2- Behavior therapy:
Behavioral theory inspects that how one behaves and reacts in certain situations.
In these therapies, the patient actively participates and learns skills that are useful for self-recovery.
In this, deep understanding and learning about the problems, maintenance of consultation records, doing homework assignments, examining behaviors and reactions, etc., are the tasks they involve in.
The benefits of this therapy in prisoners are seen mostly within 12 to 16 weeks. And to improve early through CBT, patients must unceasingly practice the skills they are learning during therapy sessions for better performance.
Through Self-Help
In many cases, many of the anxiety patients can treat their conditions of anxiety themselves in a variety of ways, like practicing medications, resting for long in a dark room, through a physical workout, or talking for long with sympathetic persons. In self help out, the rate of success may vary, many used to respond to the treatments within a few weeks or months while many need more than a year based on their anxiety level.
Anxiety and depression are two of the most common causes of addiction. Mix in a traumatic prison experience and you have the perfect factors that can lead to substance abuse. The opioid epidemic in NYC for example has been directly fueled by inmates. 443 out of every 100,000 people in NYC have spent time in prison, not jail, prison.
Symptoms of anxiety
Let’s discuss a few of the anxiety symptoms that are exhibited by prisoners
- They feel most of the time that something is going to happen with them.
- They lose control most of the time and feel like they are going mad.
- By the opening and closing of the prison door they always feel stressed.
- Suffers through sleep problems, feel sweaty, and have difficulty in breathing.
- They wait for visitors or mail for so long, they feel tightness in their throat and mouth and becomes subsequently dry.
- Memories of illegal acts and missing of loved ones.
- Behavioral changes, restlessness, and nervousness.
- Lack of appetite and misbalance in sleep
- The worrying concerns like uselessness, deprivation, mood swings and changes in behavior, etc., are seen in such persons who go to prison.
Conclusion
The imprisonment can affects the thinking, behavioral, and physical ability of a person and causes severe levels of anxiety. The psychological effect on each prisoner varies with time, state, and place. The prison experience can be frightening and depressing for everyone, which takes many years to overcome. Anxiety mostly causes a prisoner subject to fear, pain, loneliness, and anxiety. But all such situations can be overcome by taking proper medications and doing certain therapies and physical workouts that can best help to overcome the anxiety situations.