Member-only story
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 even more dangerous in jail or prison.
But think about this: Your struggle against OCD is a struggle to let go of false control–to let go of trying to control your life through irrational behavior. In prison or jail, you are being presented by the universe with a stark reality: you are not in control. You are really not in control of anything but (potentially) your own mind. Your challenge is to look at the metal of your cage and think, “I release all control.”
By releasing false control over things beyond your control you can reach liberation: freedom from OCD and a true feeling of peace, even in lock up.
Control: Your thoughts and actions.
Interaction: Your interactions with the world, partially within your control.
