Prison mental health

How does human mind react to a limitation of what it perceives to be freedom? This thought really started as an inquiry into prison mental health and management of the mental state of the inmates by prison shrinks (mental health councilors). Obviously, religion, as well as other forms of spirituality, seems to be the primary source of comfort for people while incarcerated, and has been throughout centuries; but I wonder if there is actually a separate category of prison psychology. I would guess that if there is, it would be just a scaling down of a general psychology that is applied to the rest of the society. Our history shows that civilization is full of instances of limitation of freedom of people, from slavery, to serfdom, to economic dependency, and also with accompanying managing psychologies. I mean, is a modern person, stressed out by responsibilities and obligations of living in a modern capitalist society, really a free person? He may not be locked up behind physical gates, but his freedoms and actions (and his time) are certainly economically constrained. My guess is that most of the psychology that targets him would work on the similar principles that it would for a prison inmate. I would recon Zen and Buddhism approach would work for both populations because it lowers the expectations of both to the lowest possible level.
Perhaps an analogy of an animal in a zoo would be a better comparison. Ideally, if a wild animal is caged, it would be hoped that it would ‘acclimate’ and get used to its environment and not pose a threat to itself or others. This would be especially important if its captivity is permanent; the animal would just have to readjust itself as fully as possible to its new life. If captivity is temporary and the animal is to be released back into the wild, then the task would be twofold, to help adjust it to its current environment, while, at the same time, not losing its capabilities of surviving in the wild. But what effect does this have on a person’s psychology and just how compatible/incompatible are the two environments in order to be able to successfully manage both?
Also to note, this is not to say that society will not fully accept ex-prisoners, there have been many famous people who have been imprisoned historically, famous writers, political figures (who wrote their works while in prison), artists (like Caravaggio) and who were later incorporated back into the culture of society as notable or even as leadership figures.

I’m imprisoned by gravity if your worried about people being imprisoned by capitalism. It is less about restrictions of choice but rather a awareness of the ability to imagine more.

Capitalism bars me from having a Utopian flying castle? Essentially, pure fantasy and actual objects equally imprison in your outlook.

Yes, that’s why I said perceived freedom. It is assumed that the rich have more freedoms, but is that really so, and how would one even define freedom if one who has power and money spends most of his time and energy in pursuit and keep of his position and fortune, whether it’s imposed internally or externally? There are many kinds of prisons, and power and money can be one of them. The need defines the shackles, but does a need ever go away? There is always some kind of need, so there is never true and complete freedom. Who is more free, a king or a peasant?

Yeah… this is what is called “Cynic Philosophy”.

Google Diogenes.

Epicurus too.

Not his successors as much, you could indeed have a poor Epicurean, but you couldn’t have a rich cynic, and a Epicurean isn’t likely to wail against the machine like a Cynic would. I was a Cynic, not Stoic, and Joker almost was a Cynic, nearly.

Who do you think would have the temperament to say fuck everyone, and hike out to the street and just sit there, and go root around foraging for food? That’s not what epicurians were known for. Not that they couldn’t, just they really didn’t do that as far as I’m aware. Perhaps a few did some principled grand standing innantiquity in lost sources or a work I haven’t come across yet. Only one I would point to maybe would be Lucian, and he was in thick with the imperial establishment.

Oh panny, experience without responsibility and consequences seem to be lurking in your mind, when will you stop trying to reach this so called absolute ecstasy of pleasure?, oh panny, are you feeling a little discontent in the modern world, a world where the woman has to work too and pull her way, oh the irony…

Oh panny, what is this shit you are talking about with prison inmates, suggesting to relax them into a submissive mindfulness which bear no aggression, are you feeling a little worried that those systems are naively allowing Islam to be taught to all those bad boys and it’s catching like wild fire, where upon release they have no interest in adapting but rather their criminal mind now has a more sophisticated outlet where they seek to establish a patriarchy…

Oh panny, don’t you know that the government doesn’t give a shit about your survival ability, they use the lack of it against everybody, where everyone is born into a sheltering that hinders their survival development which would of taken place had they been exposed to a more natural wild environment…

Oh panny, don’t you know humans have been trying to free themselves since the very beginning…from existence…to the point they delude themselves into redefinition of existence and reality, isn’t this capitalistic world a pathetic attempt of extending playtime, 5 more minutes mommy, 5 more minutes?.. which is built up promises upon promises, where there never seems to be pay of, where freedom is redefined as material possession and time is it’s price…

Oh panny, don’t you know that slavery was never abolished, they just developed more sophisticated techniques of getting the people to enslave themselves and not realize it, and use them to expand the plantation around themselves, further embedding them…

I am actually glad to live in a the world where woman has equal rights when it comes to employment and making her own living. In that regard, a woman has never been free to such a degree in the past. This is my opinion as a woman, but I wasn’t speaking for all womenkind in my op.

Those that embrace Islam only trade one set of shackles for another, so they are already followers. The reason why Muslims have to pray five times a day is to keep their mind focused on God. Talk about mind control. It’s ideological warfare, but I believe Islam will yield to consumerism because the two are not totally incompatible. You’ll see, because a man innately desires to have his cake and eat it too.

I suggest that you take a look into our evolutionary history, specifically into qualities which allowed us to even survive this long as species, the qualities that made us human.

But it’s not about 5 minutes, or 10 minutes, or eternity. It’s about a want that is deep-wired into a man himself.

Who are they?

I’m not sure the biggest stressor to being in prison is necessarily the lack of freedom but the lack of social compassion. You can imagine a high powered CEO burdened by the extreme responsibilities and obligations of making ends meet with his business, but if he has good friends and a loving supportive family to go home too, it might make all the difference in the world. Meanwhile you can imagine a minimum security, highly luxurious prison where the inmates don’t need to worry about preparing their own meals or taking care of their health, where any time they want they can go to the library, read a book, surf the net, or go out into the courtyard and play sports or enjoy the weather, but if they live among dangerous criminals and have to worry about being beaten or gang raped, and there’s no one they can trust, it might be the most stressful situation there is.