Coping with prison life can be challenging. There is a lot you can do to help you adjust with unfamiliar situations, faces, and strict timings when you are distanced from your friends and family.
It is alright to feel intimidated in the beginning, but here are 7 psychological methods that can help you cope with prison life.
1. Volunteer For Good Work
You must always retain a sense of purpose. Especially, at times when self-doubt is clouding your thoughts and creativity, it is important to engage and participate in some kind of activity that will keep you motivated.
Try connecting to a charity or a volunteer organization where you can do take up some projects, whether singular or group-based. Group-based activities can also help you connect with a community and make you feel less isolated. You can be a peer supporter of some charity, become a listener, advocate for the environment, or be a healthcare volunteer.
Keeping in constant touch with likeminded people trying to do good, is going to keep you stay positive, feel more confident, and reduce stress.
2. Practice Something Yourself
If you want to do something alone engage in some skills that you already have, or you could try something new. If you are good at something, start doing it. Practice artwork, craftwork, etc. Teach other interested inmates something you are good at- teaching, playing some instrument, sketching, etc.
3. Acts of Gratitude
Send thank-you notes to friends & family who have been kind and helped you. Let them know they are in your thoughts, and they will reach out too.
Learn from other inmates. Spend some time with someone feeling low. You do not have to be over-friendly, and yet be there for people in need.
Small acts of kindness done regularly is a very rewarding feeling at the end of the day. Gradually, you will build trust and establish positive relations.
4. Try to keep in touch with your close ones
Keep the communication simple, but happening.
You may hesitate to reach out thinking you have let them down or they don’t like you anymore. However, that is not the right way to deal with the situation for either you or your near ones.
Keeping close is very important when you are isolated by distance. Be on the receiving end of communication to help each cope up with prison life.
Find out about visiting hours and application processes for your near ones, and establish contact. Arranging visits is going to help you look forward to something and inspire you to plan a different future.
When not visiting, write about your daily life, and feelings to dear ones. It is okay to be vulnerable too. When you don’t hold back, they will find it easy to open up to you too. Send handwritten notes, stamps, maybe a small sketch or an origami craft.
5. Take care of yourself
It is not difficult to understand if you are feeling demotivated or low and finding it hard to do the basic things. The idea is to take baby steps.
Exercise. Take it slow but start moving your body; Exercising is a sure way to uplift your mood and keep you on a productive track.
Start maintaining a regular hygiene routine like bathing, shaving, washing your clothes, and keeping clean. Simple routines will help you bring some consistency to life and a huge difference to your self-esteem.
Do not skip food. You need to have a balanced diet to keep a balanced mind and body. You may have less choice over what you eat but try to have at least three meals a day, include vegetables and fruits, sometimes buy snacks from the canteen for a change. And stay hydrated. When you are physically fit, it will be a lot easier to deal with the chaotic change prison life can bring. This is good for your mental health too.
6. Refrain from Drugs
It is well documented that substance abuse occurs in prisons. Synthetic drugs could have extreme side-effects like addiction and seizures and can take a toll on your mental health. Say no to drugs whenever possible. If you need help, reach out to friends or some organizations working to help inmates with substance abuse.
7. Reach Out
Even if your family is not in constant touch with you, do not hold yourself back from reaching out. Family and friends might face restraints from regularly visiting you for numerous reasons. It is best to understand what situation they might be in and respect that.
If you are someone who has lost his family, and your immediate friends are not around, you still do not need to feel lonely. There are volunteers available who can pay you regular visits. Hold on to these positive relationships.
Reaching out for help at moments of crisis is not a sign of weakness. Find out about prison survival guides to help you cope with these new circumstances. Finding someone in prison to trust and speak to about your feelings is not easy. But there may be peers you will find with time with whom you can discuss things.
In several prisons, prisoners are trained as listeners and confidential speaking services are available to support you. Talking to someone who is going through some crisis like you will make you feel less separated.
It may seem impossible to make time just for yourself when in prison, but you still can. Try meditation and mindfulness. Breathe slowly and deeply to slow down your heart rate, relax your muscles, and lower your blood pressure. You will be calmer and less stressed.
Start making small plans for yourself. Do small things and accomplish them. In the long run, you will feel inspired enough to look forward to a different life ahead.
