In the first ever exercise to assess the mental health of prisoners for early identification of mental illness and treatment, the Prisons’ Department, with support from the Legal Services Authority and Nimhans, is launching a study on mental health of the inmates of Central prison, Parappana Agrahara here.

The report prepared will be used as a module to understand and identify mental illness among prisoners across the country, and to train prison authorities to handle them.

It all began with a workshop in Bangalore for senior prison officers by psychiatrists from Nimhans on March 7 this year. Later, a group of psychiatrists visited the Central prison to evaluate the mental health of the inmates.

“We felt the need to assess the mental health of prisoners since we have Nimhans in the City. I enquired with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to support the project but we didn’t get a positive reply. I then approached Justice Gopal Gowda, Chairman, State Legal Services Authority, with the proposal, requesting him for a grant of Rs 10 lakh. He approved it,” said Additional Director General and Inspector General, Prisons, S T Ramesh.

A study

The study - ‘Mental health and substance abuse - assessment and approach in prisons’ - will be launched in January next year, and is divided into three phases. In phase one, a team chosen by Nimhans will elicit replies from the prisoners to a questionnaire.

The questions will be based on their social and educational background, addictions if any, etc. In phase two, the data collected will be compiled and prison staff at Central prisons in Bangalore, Mysore, Belgaum, Bijapur, Dharwad, Bellary and Gulbarga, will be trained on early identification of mental illness in prisoners and the treatment. In phase three, a booklet on the study will be published and disseminated.

“The assessment may take a minimum of five months. We have around 4,800 prisoners in the Central prison in Bangalore,” said Mr Ramesh.

“There is little information on the magnitude of mental illnesses, including addiction. If we have a large sample size, it will help understand and manage the reasons for crime, which till now is being seen as a law and order problem. The study will help us understand why people commit crime; how much of it is due to mental illness, personality disorders, etc,” said Nimhans director D Nagaraja.

According to Justice Gowda, the study will be an eye opener and give a new insight into the mental health of prisoners. “It will also help prison staff to deal with them with a better understanding,” he added.

Dr Rajni, psychiatrist, Central Prison, Parappana Agrahara, said that the prevalence rate of mental illness in the country is between six and seven per cent. “In prisons it is three to five times higher. There is a paucity of data regarding mental morbidity in prisons.

The Tihar  jail experience tells us that eight per cent of new entrants in prisons come with drug addiction. If the symptoms are not recognised at an early stage, these people may develop withdrawal symptoms and become violent to self and others. Depression and suicide are well recognised problems in the prisons. There is a need for early identification and treatment of these problems,” she said.