The impact of solitary confinement on people with mental illness
The main character in UNLAWFUL DISORDER, Bowie Long, is incarcerated when he shows maladaptive behaviors related to his mental illness, and also when he is caught engaging in consensual m2m sex in a ‘tea room’, (a public restroom where men have sex with other men). Once in jail, he is place in solitary confinement after he responds to inmate violence in the only way he knows how, by exhibiting his sexuality.
Solitary confinement has a few monikers that work to minimize what it really is, protective custody, isolation, etc. But what it consists of is twenty four hours of confinement in a room approximately the size of a bathroom, with no access to books, letters, phone contact, often lit for the entire time, where there is no interaction with any human beings.
The American Friends Service Committee provides data on the long term impact to individuals who have endured solitary confinement:
Visual and auditory hallucinations
Hypersensitivity to noise and touch
Insomnia and paranoia
Uncontrollable feelings of rage and fear
Distortions of time and perception
Increased risk of suicide
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
These effects are magnified for two particularly vulnerable populations: juveniles, whose brains are still developing, and people with mental health issues, who are estimated to make up one-third of all prisoners in isolation.
The irony here, is that solitary confinement was invented by the Quakers, who are also the American Friends Service Committee, in the 1800’s.
The impact of confinement can be lifelong for anyone who experiences it. But think of the additional ramifications for people with mental health diagnoses, like Bowie Long.
Added to that, the inmate is required to pay for each day they are remanded to confinement, anywhere from three to five dollars per day, which comes out of their ‘commissary’.
For more information, check out AFSC’s website: https://afsc.org/solitary-confinement-facts
LINK TO PURCHASE COPY OF UNLAWFUL DISORDER by David Jackson Ambrose:
https://www.amazon.com/Unlawful-DISorder-David-Jackson-Ambrose/dp/1938841972
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver link about solitary confinement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uSZwErdH3I