By Alexa Spencer, Photo: South_agency/Getty, Word In Black, December 6, 2023
Being locked away in a prison cell for years on end can be devastatingly lonely for people behind bars. Aside from mail, TV, radio, and guest visitation, their access to the outside world is limited. Perhaps, lesser known is how loneliness impacts the loved ones of incarcerated people.
A 2018 report by Essie Justice Group found that 1 in 4 women in the United States, and nearly 1 in 2 Black women, have a loved one who is incarcerated. The nonprofit organization surveyed women with incarcerated family and found that most experienced “extreme isolation.”
If untreated, chronic isolation can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, depression, and anxiety. A lack of social connection is also a risk factor for suicide. That’s one of the reasons why the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, declared loneliness a public health crisis in May.
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