The course of major depression during imprisonment – A one year cohort study

Mental health symptoms during imprisonment: a longitudinal study

“…Only a limited number of studies have described overall trends in the mental health of prisoners during detention. These descriptive longitudinal studies suggest that, in general, prisoners’ mental health problems seem to stabilize or decrease during imprisonment .…”

“…Even less is known about whether or not changes in mental health symptoms during imprisonment vary across prisoners, and how differences in changes are related to pre‐existing characteristics of individuals entering detention. A review of the literature resulted in only six longitudinal studies that examined pre‐existing predictors of changes in mental health during imprisonment . These studies identified female gender and psychological characteristics (i.e.…”

The Underlying Structure of Comorbid Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders in Prison Populations

“…In contrast to general populations, major depression in prison populations may represent not only the internalizing dimension, but also the P factor and the externalizing dimension. There are external factors in prison populations that can contribute to major depression including stress of court proceedings, violence, isolation, overcrowding, lack of meaningful activity, separation from families and friends, and the insecurity about future prospects [45-47]. The rates of comorbid major depression and several externalizing disorders such as drug use disorders and alcohol use disorders may be higher in prison populations than in community samples [48].…”

Effect of an art brut therapy program called go beyond the schizophrenia (GBTS) on prison inmates with schizophrenia in mainland China—A randomized, longitudinal, and controlled trial

“…In prison settings, inmates with schizophrenia have a rigid self‐defense, which can be manifested through silence or lies, due to the need for basic survival against the potential threats of others, which creates insurmountable obstacles for art therapists. Additionally, a high rate of illiteracy and a low level of verbal communication in the prison surroundings make it more difficult for inmates with schizophrenia to vocalize their emotional or mental problems such as depressive symptoms, which are pervasive in this environment (Baier, Fritsch, Ignatyev, Priebe, & Mundt, ; Jarrett et al, ). Therefore, art therapy might be one of the more beneficial treatments in prison settings and previous research (Gussak & Cohen‐Liebman, ) has identified several benefits, including allowing diversion and escape through the use of creativity inherent in the prison society and promoting inadvertent unconscious disclosure bypassing verbal communication and pervasive dishonesty.…”