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| Program manages inmates' mental health |
| By auburnpub.com |
| Published: 10/05/2009 |
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BEACON - A prison may not seem like the most obvious place for self-actualization, with its imposing brick walls and barbed-wire fences. But a program at Fishkill Correctional Facility is trying to help mentally ill inmates learn more about their conditions. The hope is that the program will help inmates cope better in prison and after release, potentially reducing discipline problems and recidivism. It's the first effort of its kind for general-population inmates in the state, and organizers say the results will fuel a pioneering study. Julio Rodriguez, serving a little more than two years for a drug-selling conviction, knew he didn't feel normal. He knew he had been diagnosed with depression. But he didn't really know what that meant - what triggered it, what the symptoms were. “It was just like, ‘OK, something is wrong, take this,' but it was never pinpointed: ‘OK, this is what you're suffering from,”' he said after a recent class, prison guards keeping an eye on him and his classmates. “Nobody brought this information.” Mentally ill inmates can have a difficult time in the regimented, controlled atmosphere of a prison, where a disciplinary infraction can be something as simple as not responding quickly enough to a direct order, said Jack Beck, director of the Prison Visiting Project for the Correctional Association of New York, a prisoner advocacy organization. “You have this very intense regulation for people who have a very hard time coping,” he said. “These people find it very hard to survive in that environment.” The program at the Fishkill prison in Beacon, about 70 miles north of New York City, encourages inmates to take active roles in managing their mental health and treatment. They are taught to identify stressors, coping tools and how medication can help. Participants meet in small groups for two hours a week in the 20-week course. Rodriguez, 42, said it taught him a great deal about his illness. Read More. |
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