By Ms. Gege
From PHN Issue 51, Winter 2023
Urge Surfing is a technique for managing your unwanted behaviors. Rather than giving in to an urge, you will ride it out like a surfer rides a wave. After a short time, the urge will pass on its own. This technique can be used to stop or reduce any unwanted behaviors or habits, including emotional reactions such as “blowing up” when angry, overeating, and other unwanted behaviors.
Continue reading “Urge Surfing”By Leo Cardez
From PHN Issue 50, Summer/Fall 2022
Regret runs through everything, and no man exists as he once was. People in custody have an intimate relationship with regret – left to face the suffering and damage we have left in our wake. It is as if we are stuck in a barrel at the bottom of the ocean with no options – there is nothing worse.
Continue reading “Convict Chronicles: NO REGRETS”By Dan Lockwood
From PHN Issue 50, Summer/Fall 2022
Bryant Arroyo is a longtime activist and jailhouse lawyer with expertise in environmentalism, advocacy, and the law. His recent success was helping Mr. Bradford “Bub” Gamble successfully obtain compassionate release. PHN is grateful that Mr. Arroyo has agreed to be interviewed to share his insights so that others can also be granted the same dignity that Mr. Gamble and his family received as a result of his compassionate release.
This information applies to Pennsylvania, but there are similar rules in other states and the federal system that can be found in the prison law library.
PHN: What is compassionate release?
Continue reading “How To Apply For Compassionate Release In Pennsylvania: An Interview With A Jailhouse Lawyer”By Ethan Macks
From PHN Issue 50, Summer/Fall 2022
Do you ever feel like you just don’t want to wake up and face the day? Do you feel unmotivated and restless? In small amounts, this is normal for most people, but if you find yourself experiencing this almost every day coupled with self-defeating thoughts and a feeling that overall things are just not worthwhile, you may be seeing the early signs of something I am all too familiar with. Depression is widespread in prison, and you may be thinking to yourself, “What is there to look forward to in the penitentiary?” Unfortunately, that is exactly the problem. Prison breeds emotions like anger, sadness, and despair. On top of all the negativity that goes on, there are countless reminders of what’s going on in the outside world. Some people handle these feelings better than others, but I believe that most of you who are reading this can relate. I feel that with the right tools, you can recognize a low mood and remedy this issue before you fall into a very dark place. An isolated mind is your own worst enemy.
Continue reading “The “BIG THREE” and Depression”By Lily H-A
From PHN Issue 50, Summer/Fall 2022
Omicron and BA.5
The current version of the coronavirus that is infecting the most people in the U.S. is called BA.5. This is a “sub-variant” of the omicron variant. It is the most contagious version of the virus yet, and it’s sometimes able to get past antibodies from prior infections and vaccination. However, these antibodies do still provide some protection from BA.5, especially against severe illness and death. BA.5 does not seem to cause more severe disease than other variants. Data are also beginning to suggest that long COVID may be somewhat less common for people after being infected with omicron sub-variants than with earlier variants.
Continue reading “COVID-19 Updates: JULY 2022”By Leo Cardez
November 1, 2020
Illinois Department of Corrections
“This is some crazy ass shit; and I thought I’d seen it all after twenty years in the joint.” Murder*, my COVID wing co-worker, lamented while shaking his head. We were dragging yet another fellow inmate to the hospital wing of our prison. Murder is a seasoned con from the streets of Chicago’s South side, but I swear I saw a tear in his eye.
There were four of us glorified janitors working in the makeshift quarantine wing of our prison. Besides cleaning, we were tasked with moving and caring for sick (even dead) inmates. At the peak of our coronavirus outbreak, we worked seven days a week double shifts, sweating through our full PPE—too busy to even stop and eat. It was only at the end of the day, during my shower, that I would finally have a moment to catch my breath. Sometimes I would break down, hiding my tears as the warm water washed over me. My co-workers and I suffered everything from nightmares to migraines. We lost and gained weight at an alarming rate. We slept sporadically and were often depressed or angry. Double D, my morning co-worker, said it best, “We are never going to be the same after this… you cannot unsee or undo this type of damage.”
Continue reading “Saving Your Mind: Mental Health in the Age of COVID”
By Leo Cardez
From PHN Issue 47, Fall 2021From the new Department of Corrections leadership to politics and the coronavirus pandemic, inmates live in volatile times. In prison, all we know for sure is that we don’t know shit—we live off of rumor and conjecture. And that’s not good for us. The damage caused by our unpredictable circumstances causes havoc on every aspect of our being.
Incarceration during this historic epidemic seems to hold more questions than answers: Will I or someone I love get sick? Are my job, school and cell, assignment secure? What do the election results mean to our shadow community—are there any criminal reform initiatives on the horizon? And when will my facility go back to normal—if at all?
Continue readingI wrote this poem in the beginning of this COVID pandemic. My first thought was, will I see my mother again? My second thought was, I should be safe because the only way I could get it is through the staff and the DOC is going to take extra care of their staff, right? But I was wrong. The COVID entered the prison as fast as the convicts that is housed in it. Before I even felt the symptoms of COVID it attacked my mental health. Everything I did became excessive. I washed my hands so much that my skin started to pull off around my fingernails. Cleaning my cell went from two times a day to five times a day. With only an hour for rec, I took a half hour shower. I did all of that and still caught COVID. I couldn’t eat for the first five days. I found out after I went to the hospital that I had pneumonia. I thought that I wasn’t going to make it because mentally I wasn’t prepared to fight it. I pulled through because I didn’t want my family to remember me for this. I have a higher purpose and through my poetry you’ll hear my voice. Continue reading “COVID Prison Testimonies: Parish Brown”
By Ethan Macks
From PHN Issue 46, Spring/Summer 2021
With all the concern going around about COVID-19 and what is essential and what is not, I feel that there needs to be greater consideration for mental health.
Being incarcerated, I see a lot of stigma concerning the issue of mental health. Being labeled as SMI (Seriously Mentally Ill) on the streets, I’ve had ample experience with mental health and how it should be treated. The National Institute of Mental Health defines SMI as a “mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder resulting in serious functional impairment, which substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities.” SMI commonly refers to a diagnosis of psychotic disorders (schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder), bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder with psychotic symptoms, treatment-resistant depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and personality disorders.
Continue readingBy Bernard Lee Starks Jr.
From PHN Issue 43, Summer 2020
Hi, my name is Bernard Lee Starks Jr. I am a 30-year-old African-American male who has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Contrary to the belief that PTSD only happens in people who have experienced war, my PTSD comes from getting sucker-punched over an intense three-year span in a juvenile correctional facility. The degree to which I was affected was unknown until I became an advocate against sexual violence and began reading about rape trauma syndrome.
Being in confinement is very difficult, especially while fighting symptoms of PTSD. It’s always noise from people or machinery which adds difficulty to maintaining assertiveness. After speaking with a trusted psychologist at 20 years old, I was told I likely had PTSD.
Continue reading
Prison Health News 