Institutional and systemic failure

Being incarcerated in conditions that caused harm

Being incarcerated in conditions that were unsafe, abusive, or inhumane. Violence inside facilities. Solitary confinement. Medical neglect while incarcerated. A carceral system that caused harm beyond the deprivation of liberty it was authorized to impose.

Harm inside incarceration is treated by much of the world as part of the sentence, which it never legally or morally was. Violence, isolation, and neglect beyond the loss of liberty were harms layered on top of the punishment, not components of it. What happened to you in there counts as trauma, full stop, and it is welcome in these rooms.

What can follow an experience like this

No two people carry the same experience the same way. These are some of the effects that people with this experience often describe. Having some of them, all of them, or none of them says nothing about how real what happened to you was.

PTSD After certain experiences, the brain can get stuck, replaying what happened through flashbacks, nightmares, or sudden intense reactions to things that remind you of it. Hypervigilance The nervous system that learned to scan for danger all the time. Trust issues Trust that was broken, repeatedly, by people who were supposed to be safe. Insomnia Difficulty falling asleep. Shame Not guilt about something you did. Depression Not just sadness. Anxiety The background hum of dread that is always there. Problems with authority The original experiences with authority figures, parents, teachers, institutions, abusers, shaping the automatic response to anyone who holds power.

Nothing on this page is a diagnosis, and nothing here decides what is wrong with you, because nothing is wrong with you. Something happened to you. This page exists so that when you are ready, you can find people who understand it from the inside.

You do not have to carry this alone.

Bridge of Hope Recovery is a free, anonymous, peer-led fellowship for trauma survivors. Meetings run throughout the week by phone, by video, and in person. No cost, no waitlist, no one asking for your real name.

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