I am proud to be working with Wellness While Incarcerated on their upcoming book of meditations, essays, games, puzzles and more for incarcerated persons. I am contributing a re-edited version of my post on OCD in prison. I’d like to share it with you here.
OCD in Prison
Mass incarceration is mass murder of souls; it warps personalities and crushes human potential. The United States has an insane and pointless justice system designed to lock up as many (primarily poor) people as possible for as long as possible. It typically does not benefit anyone, with the exception of satisfying the bloodlust of a punitive public obsessed with addressing the symptoms of harmful behavior while ignoring their causes. And, of course, prisons make money by incarcerating people. It’s their business model.
You are one of millions of Americans who find themselves locked away in a room to read, play cards and watch TV day after day until society pretends you’ve paid your debt. If you also suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), this unfortunate situation ironically presents an opportunity to make great progress.
On the one hand, the stress of incarceration will eat away at your resistance to your OCD. And OCD makes being locked up even more difficult; OCD is itself a mental prison and OCD rituals can make life more difficult and…
