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Mental Health in Prisons: Challenges and Solutions

Nov 30

3 min read

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APA says Mental health is a state of mind where there is emotional well-being, good behavioral adjustment, and a capacity to establish constructive relationships and cope with the ordinary demands and stresses of life. Life in prison can be more stressful because of the many challenges they face and have little control over. Some of them are:

  • Poor facilities in the prison

  • Lack of basic amenities

  • Limited space

  • Overcrowding of inmates

  • Lack of healthy lifestyle

  • Absence or limited availability of healthcare services

  • Negligible social interaction

  • Probable abuse, physical, verbal, and/or mental

  • Discrimination and stigma

  • Lack of privacy

  • Lack of meaningful activity

Prisoner

Impact of Poor Mental Health in Prisons

The prevalence of mental disorders within the prison population is high; depression, anxiety, substance use and psychotic disorders predominate. They have rates of psychotic illnesses 2-16 times higher and major depression 2-6 times higher than in the general population. Women in prisons have twofold rates of common mental disorders compared to the general population. Suicide is the main cause of death in prison and suicide rates are three times higher in male and nine times higher in female prisoners, when compared to the general population. However, there is less research overall as far as prisoner mental health is concerned. One of the main reasons behind this is a lack of acknowledgement and recognition of Mental Health as a serious issue.

According to a study done by Van Buitenen et al., the prevalence of schizophrenia was 56.7%; for substance abuse disorder, 43.1%; while up to 56.9% of the 5,247 inmates had other mental disorders, such as impulsiveness, poor social skills and disruptive behaviour.

What does the Indian Constitution have to say on this

The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 is a detailed view of legislation which has provisions under section 31(2) by which it provides for mandatory training of all medical officers in prisons to provide basic and emergency mental healthcare. Also, under section 103(6) of the Act, it is compulsory for each state governments to set up mental health establishment in the medical wing of at least one prison in the state.


This Act addresses to the concerns of prison mental health; however the ground reality is different and there is significant lack of facilitiesrelating mental health concerns. Implementation of these provisions of the Act at multiple levels is a tough task.

The Model Prisons Act, 2023

The Model Prisons Act, 2023 aims at reforming prison management and ensuring the transformation of inmates into law-abiding citizens and their rehabilitation in society. This new act will lay more emphasis on the safety of women & transgender prisoners and bring about transparency in prison management and provide for the correction and rehabilitation of prisoners. New act to also have focus on vocational training and skill development of prisoners and their reintegration into the society.

  • Tihar Jail (Delhi):

Tihar jail has introduced therapeutic and vocational training programs. Additionally, Tihar has also implemented yoga and meditation as rehabilitation tools for inmates with mental health conditions.

  • Kerala's Model Prisons:

Kerala has developed comprehensive mental health services, including psychiatric evaluations and counseling, as part of its prison reforms. Reports on their success are discussed in state prison reform workshops.



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