Mental Health Crisis in Illinois Ad Seg/Control Unit

I want to thank you for the info [on the brutal mental health effects of control unit prisons]. I had it read aloud to everyone in this seg control unit. Some of the inmates will write up essays on the Control Unit Mental Health Crisis.

-- a control unit prisoner in Illinois, 5 May, 2005

It's important for families and friends of prisoners to understand the mental condition and challenges of prison inmates. There are prisoners that don't expose their problematic stressful conditions to family or friends due to a lack of support. Myself, one prisoner, I have suffered mental challenges every day that degrade and change my own behavior.

Picture living alone in a confined cell, and having solitary confined recreation cages or pods that have no bathroom stall. Twice a week, up to 18 prisoners fill these single-man cages, and are made to stay for two-and-a-half hours. There are no bathrooms in or outside these cages, nor will a station officer take you out for restroom purposes. Prisoners are forced to urinate and have bowel movements around others, and to be punished for this. Or they can hold their bodily waste. Then you have ones that throw human feces in a confrontation with someone else, risking hepatitis for themselves and others.

Corrections officers (C/Os) are supposed to distinguish your level of voice and say whether you are talking or yelling. Yelling is a rule violation. What is yelling? How appropriate is it for a C/O to determine a yell in legal terms and punish us for this? There is a difference, of course, between talking and yelling, but why should a C/O be able to say which is which when the determination results in punishment? Housed on an open unit with 52 cells on two floors, if everyone speaks in tones meant to be heard six inches away like you do in elementary school, the noise level will still be at a roar because of how many people are talking in this confined space. We must decide either to communicate with other prisoners and be heard, or avoid getting tickets for yelling and live in complete isolation. Choosing isolation will lead to either Attention Disorder or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The conditions we live in can be compared to those of a dog who is isolated for 30 days. Imagine interacting with the dog only to give it baths once a week, and giving it the same amount of food you would feed a puppy. How will the dog act when it is released?

--a control unit prisoner in Illinois, May 2005