Prison Mental Health – An Indian Perspective

Abstract

The prevalence of psychiatric disorders and psychological maladjustments is significantly high among prisoners due to a multitude of factors. However, prisoners are among the most medically underserved groups of society, especially for the mental health aspects. Recently, there has been an increase in awareness on the need of mental health services for prisoners. This short communication is intended to review the available research on prison mental health in India and also to propose recommendations to design and implement robust strategies to plan interventions.

Keywords

• medical education
• mental health
• prison
• psychiatric disorders
• substance use
• telemental health services