Post Incarceration Syndrome
Seek To Understand, Not To Deny – Prison Has Side-effects
It’s difficult to understand exactly what system-impacted citizens go through while incarcerated and after their release unless you have been in prison. As abusive and harmful prison conditions are, system-impacted systems often conform to those conditions. The conditions are mentally taxing on the individuals, leaving them feeling helpless and hopeless, like they have nowhere to turn. If someone experiences these struggles during or after their prison sentence, they may have a disorder called Post Incarceration Syndrome, or PICS.
What Is Post Incarceration Syndrome?
Post Incarceration Syndrome is a mental disorder that affects people who are currently incarcerated or released from prison. Individuals in prison are at risk for this disorder, but those who have experienced trauma during their prison sentence may be more likely to develop the syndrome and have more intense side effects. Noone leaves prison with their psyche entirely intact. For example, people forced into solitary living situations in prison or were victims of institutional abuse are likely to experience the severe mental and emotional turmoil typically associated with Post Incarceration Syndrome.
Post Incarceration Syndrome & Mental Illness
Since Post Incarceration Syndrome is a mental illness, most of its symptoms have to do with one’s thoughts and the behaviors one displays after having these thoughts. Here are some of the most common side effects or traits that someone with PICS may experience:
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Trauma before or during life in prison may result in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Individuals who struggle with PTSD may frequently relive past events in their minds and have sudden outbursts.
Institutionalized Traits
While in prison, a person’s personal nature and critical thinking abilities may be stripped away from them. This could result in a personality switch or loss of interest in activities that the person once enjoyed.
Antisocial Traits
A lot of time in prison is spent alone. When inmates aren’t alone, they only have the company of guards and fellow inmates. If they face abuse from these people, they may develop an antagonistic and anti-social point of view.
Sensory Deprivation
It’s normal to feel lost after going through sensory deprivation. The effects of living without any contact with the outside world can take a mental toll on an individual in prison.
Other side effects of Post Incarceration Syndrome, which may tie in with the traits above, include feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, fear, isolation, and anger or rage
Post Incarceration Syndrome & Relationships
Adjusting to a partner’s return from prison can be very difficult for the partner that spent years, even decades, waiting for their release.
I’m often asked, what can I do to better support my loved one without losing myself? The solution I offer is simple: “educate yourself on the psychological impact of incarceration, known as Post Incarceration Syndrome, set boundaries, and do a whole lot of self-care.” Also, share and discuss this subject with your loved one. Of course, many will deny that they’ve been affected by their bid in prison, but that’s highly unlikely.
To heal their families, many partners neglect themselves. Instead, they are focused on their partner’s reintegration process and their children while forgetting about themselves.
There are many prison support groups on social media for women who have a loved one in prison or are formerly incarcerated. However, finding one where the group’s sole purpose is to raise awareness about Post Incarceration Syndrome is like finding a needle in a haystack. For this reason, Wife After Prison was birthed. When my marriage was on a slippery slope, I badly needed support. I needed a support group that would help me to understand why my ex-husband’s behavior and personality became unrecognizable before my very eyes.
I joined twenty-sex “prison wives” support groups, collectively over twenty-six thousand members, and none of these groups discussed the post-prison experience. Initially, I hesitated to bring up the subject, but I couldn’t keep quiet. My silence would violate those who experienced the same thing that Kevin and I went through. Knowing what I knew, this concerned me greatly. So many had no idea what awaited them upon their release.
I will not be silent, my silence would violent Fatima Johnson, Jessica Vargas, Melinda Corona, and many others who lost their lives at the hands of someone they supported during and after their release from prison. So, in each of those groups, I asked, “have you heard of Post Incarceration Syndrome?” and those that answered, answered, “no.”
When I began sharing my story and our encounter about this mental disorder that doesn’t get the attention it deserves, many began to come forward with questions and comments. There is one comment that I will never forget, a wife wrote, “had I known about this, maybe my husband would still be alive; three days after he got out of prison, he committed suicide.” Many asked, “what happened in three days?” I knew it wasn’t what happened in three days. What happened in prison that he couldn’t live with?
Another wife wrote, “had I known this ten years ago, maybe my husband and I would still be married.” The responses became a bit overwhelming; I knew I had to create something that would raise awareness about PICS. Making a relationship work is hard, but making a relationship work when one partner is currently or formerly incarcerated, can be very stressful and, in some cases, impossible. Many Wife After Prison Support Group members has admitted they are no longer together. I learned that women in long-term relationships with incarcerated men tend to talk openly in social media groups about feelings of shame and guilt and the stigma they face, especially if their partner has committed a violent crime. Many are frustrated that they’re unable to share in life’s simple joys with their partners. Many have expressed a sense of losing themselves while supporting their loved ones. One woman admitted, “I need to find myself. I don’t even love myself because I’ve loved everybody else; I miss who I was”.
To hear someone say, “I was happiest when he was in prison,” is alarming; however, many have this sentiment. As a result, many have lost interest in the things that used to bring them joy.
Some resent taking care of all aspects of the relationship, including financial and parenting responsibilities. Maintaining a relationship with an individual in prison is expensive; between visits, phone calls, and putting money on their books for food and toiletries, they can spend thousands of dollars a year to support the relationship. A wife shared that since her husband’s incarceration, she had spent $60,000.00, and he’s still incarcerated.
Substance Abuse. Prevention. Treatment.
Sadly, many people with PICS develop a substance abuse disorder even if they did not previously have one. This is likely because some system-impacted citizens turn to drugs to cope after experiencing trauma or abuse in prison. These individuals were cut off from the real world and deprived of normal human experiences like honesty, humility, self-awareness, and self-care. Therefore, they are usually not provided with the tools they need to cope with mental illness or emotional issues that they are facing. When someone doesn’t have the appropriate coping mechanisms to get through something, they may turn to drugs for a temporary sense of comfort.
The main way to prevent Post Incarceration Syndrome is to improve faults in the prison system. Currently, some system-impacted citizens do not have access to programs that could help them transition into the real world more seamlessly; things like mental health education, academic education, career training, job development, and rehab programs in prison could make a world of difference for these individuals.
If you or someone you know suffers from Post Incarceration Syndrome, the first step is to seek professional help or at least join a support group. No one can reintegrate successfully on their own. Once someone has advice from a trained professional, they can begin overcoming their illness. Inpatient rehabilitation is another obvious option for those experiencing substance abuse along with PICS.
Hardy dose of reality without sugarcoating the ugly stuff. I will keep this book to use as I continue to mentor inmates and their families. This book isn’t just for wives; this is a book every support member needs to read. Thank you, Sheila, for being so raw and real. You have shown me where we need to be working.
Much appreciated for a great eye-opener. This book is so real and helpful. I have worked with people in the prison system for 15 years now. I have seen the effects incarceration tends to have on these men and women and their loved ones but never understood it until this book. The things we take for granted are highlighted in the book.
Thank you for writing this book. I now understand what’s wrong with me. In the back of my mind, I knew something was wrong with me, but I didn’t know there was a name for it. The behaviors are spot on, and I now understand what I put my wife through. I’ve never heard of arrested development, but now it all makes sense.