Those who do not suffer from the paralyzing and debilitating effects of Post InCarceration Syndrome(PICS) will have you believe that the only ways to deal with your PICS symptoms are the standard treatments. They prescribe therapy, medication, inpatient facilities, counseling, and other traditional practices. As someone who suffers from PICS, I’ve found the best defense against my PICS symptoms is a strong offense.
What I mean by this is one of the best ways to deal with PICS is to employ many of the same tools I learned while serving 25 years in California’s prison system. Especially those I learned during my 17 years in Solitary Confinement in the notoriously dehumanizing Pelican Bay SHU(Security Housing Unit).
Here in the “real” world, such habits are tantamount to an arsenal in a war. For example, it was always necessary in prison to keep great records of interactions with corrupt and often racist Correctional Officers. We would log the officer’s name and rank, the time and date, what the interaction was regarding, what was said, and where the interaction occurred. For example, on May 5th at 5 pm, I spoke with Officer Smith about my not having a work assignment while waiting in the Sergeant’s office. I asked Officer Smith, “Why had I not been assigned to the kitchen like other inmates?” Officer Smith responded, “We assign your people only after all the whites have jobs.”
In addition, we learned to catalog when our mail was delivered and received, and when we sent mail out to our loved ones. This task was as simple as marking the mail with the date and time you received it, and which officer delivered it. When the mail was delayed, which it often was, we would ask the officer delivering it to sign the envelope. When sending out mail, we wrote the day and time it was sent. We kept a log of what was sent, to whom, and which Officer collected the mail. For example, I mailed a letter, eight pages long, to Penda on May 5, 2025, picked up by Officer Smith at 9 pm. The recipient could inform you when and if they received your mail.
Another great practice was to mark your legal mail status. For example, you received a response to a grievance you had filed against a staff for not giving you a work assignment, you’d mark on the envelope when you received it, which Officer delivered it (Have them sign it, often they wouldn’t. So you’d note they refused to sign.) and what your due date to respond was.
In the real world, in coping with PICs, these particular skills come in handy when dealing with your Parole Officer, employers, DHS workers, potential landlords, etc, or in trying to obtain documents and licenses you need to function as a returning citizen.
They’ll help you manage PICS symptoms by allowing you to stay organized and manage the often overwhelming amount of movement necessary to get you on track in the real world.
Being overwhelmed by life and all the new responsibilities of freedom can often lead to symptoms associated with sensory deprivation syndrome, antisocial personality traits, and substance use disorder.
Other great tools we employed to maintain our mental, spiritual, and physical health were working out and eating right to the best of our ability under the circumstances. Working out releases dopamine, the feel-good hormone, but it also relieves stress and gives you time to process your thoughts and emotions positively.
Reading and studying current and relevant subject matter. While reading was indeed often a leisure time activity. We didn’t read just to escape the prison walls around us. But we read and studied subjects that would benefit us in bettering our present circumstances and advancing our short and long-term goals. Subjects like law, history, business, health, and self-help books. We studied subjects we knew we needed to improve skills in, such as math, language arts, and social sciences. We studied and learned the prison rules and regulations and how to file grievances to advocate for ourselves and one another.
In managing my PICS, this has come into play by affording me the drive to learn all I can about the different mental health maladies that make up PICS, allowing me to become my best advocate and to recognize and identify signs and symptoms.
In short, what I’m saying is if you want to heal from your PICS, to find balance and success in your freedom, my best advice and what is working for me is to find those positive life and health-affirming tools you used to survive in prison.
Use them in your daily life out here in the free world. Realize and actualize that nothing is simply for there and not here. The lessons you learned there have meaning here. Our job is to find the meaning in the lessons learned and apply the skills used to heal, grow, and live our best life here and now.