During the month of May we often take time to encourage people to talk about mental health and self-care. Health is defined as physical, mental, and social wellbeing. There are several factors in health including one’s environment, relationships and education. Along with these in order to live a healthy life individuals require a healthful diet, exercise, screening for diseases, and coping strategies. These are some of the many methods that can all enhance a person’s health, all of which are neglected in prison and jail environments. Because of this, we cannot forget about those people who suffer from incarceration during our conversations about mental health awareness this month. Often people mention the deficient medical care offered by third party private companies in the prison but the problem is so much more than just insufficient medical care. We believe that everyone, including prisoners, deserves access to quality care and health innovation.
Daily Threats to Mental Health for Incarcerated People
- Insufficient food for daily nutrition
- Lack of engaging programming for mental development
- Lack of connection with family, outside support
- Enhanced racial divides creating tension between inmates
- Us-Against them mentality creating tension with staff
- Normalized Violence and Abuse
- Inadequate mental health care counseling, ratio of counselors to prisoners is 1:500 on average
Along with these daily threats past events from childhood and other former life traumas that contribute to criminal behavior often go unaddressed in the prison, leaving individuals working alone to try and resolve their mental health concerns. This is why we are creating a platform where we can collect art pieces that speak to these concerns to create a sense of urgency on addressing this problem.
If you or someone you know that is or has been incarcerated would like to submit art that speaks to this topic submissions can be mailed to 14419 Greenwood Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98133 Ste A #132
