Bansal Sruti, Motiyani Prachi
School of Law, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
Discov Ment Health. 2025 May 22;5(1):76. doi: 10.1007/s44192-025-00198-2.
The intricate relationship between substance addiction and mental health among India's prison population is a formidable task for these institutions. These disorders include psychotic illness, neurotic disorders, substance abuse, personality disorders, and mood disorders. High levels of depression and anxiety, in which substance addiction and mental illness frequently coexist, exacerbate the issue and worsen the outlook for those who are affected. In India, there are many obstacles in the way of inmates with mental health issues facing inappropriate care and inadequate medication administration within the prison system. There are still gaps in the quality of care for people with mental health concerns since the integration of jail health services with the larger National Health Service is still being worked out. A further layer of complexity is created by the proliferation of novel psychoactive substances in prisons, as more research is needed to determine how these drugs affect prisoners mental health. Another area of concern is the disproportionate impact that substance misuse and mental health disorders have on female convicts in India. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that women in prison have greater rates of drug abuse and depression, underscoring the need for assistance and interventions tailored to each gender. One major reason is the inadequate counselling and treatment available in prison which is due to the lack of staff, training and over crowdedness of prisoners. A more thorough and integrated approach is required to solve this complex issue by initiating mental health counselling and treatment plans including de-addiction centres and providing good medical assistance to all irrespective of gender discrimination and barriers to assessing care. This study will highlight the issues that substance abuse causes for prisoners, including how it affects their mental health and will offer various policies and recommendations for the same.
在印度监狱人口中，物质成瘾与心理健康之间的复杂关系对这些机构来说是一项艰巨的任务。这些疾病包括精神病性疾病、神经症性障碍、物质滥用、人格障碍和情绪障碍。抑郁和焦虑程度较高，物质成瘾和精神疾病常常并存，这加剧了问题的严重性，并使受影响者的前景更加黯淡。在印度，患有心理健康问题的囚犯在监狱系统中面临不适当护理和药物管理不足的问题，存在许多障碍。由于监狱卫生服务与更大的国家卫生服务的整合仍在进行中，对有心理健康问题的人的护理质量仍存在差距。监狱中新型精神活性物质的扩散又增加了一层复杂性，因为需要更多研究来确定这些药物如何影响囚犯的心理健康。另一个令人担忧的领域是物质滥用和心理健康障碍对印度女性罪犯产生的不成比例的影响。研究一再表明，监狱中的女性药物滥用和抑郁症发病率更高，这凸显了针对每个性别的援助和干预措施的必要性。一个主要原因是监狱中咨询和治疗不足，这是由于工作人员短缺、培训不足以及囚犯过度拥挤造成的。需要一种更全面、综合的方法来解决这个复杂问题，启动包括戒毒中心在内的心理健康咨询和治疗计划，并为所有人提供良好的医疗援助，而不考虑性别歧视和获得护理的障碍。本研究将突出物质滥用给囚犯带来的问题，包括它如何影响他们的心理健康，并将为此提供各种政策和建议。
