This is “The Virginia Model: Severe Discrepancies and Deprivations of Mental Health.” Today is October 31st.
As everyone knows, there has been a long history of problems in the Virginia Department of Corruptions. And just a few months ago it was reported that severe deprivations and lack of mental health care statewide led to people, inmates, lighting themselves on fire at Red Onion, Wallens Ridge. Things have gotten so bad that they barely keep track of the mental health records anymore. We do know that roughly 77% of all Virginia DOC captives are showing signs of mental health issues, from minor ADHD and anxiety all the way up to major bipolar 1 and schizophrenia. And that cohort of 77% includes that portion that have not been properly diagnosed.
There’s also the concerns about traumatic brain injuries. Concussion protocols are not even remotely looked into as other states do. And we do know that neuroscience has in fact started to point out that human brain isn’t even fully developed until age 25. Again, the Virginia DOC does nothing to pay attention to any of this. And in fact, in the book The Secret Life of Brains, by neuroscientist Dr. David Goldman, published in 2011, Chapter 6 explicitly states that all of our laws nationwide, and I would say especially in Virginia, need to be thrown out and rewritten based on our understandings of modern neuroscience.
Unfortunately, this isn’t happening, and the Virginia DOC’s corrupt staff go out of their way to cover all this up. In fact, we know that just a few months ago, regarding the incidents at Red Onion, that Senator Dave Marsden and Delegate Holly Seibold basically said, paraphrased from the news report, that the only people who can trust to be told the truth are the captives. The DOC will provide false information at every opportunity; something I’ve been running into personally on a number of levels, and people can go back and check my previous Prison Radio reports.
Something needs to be done about mental health in the Virginia DOC. There’s no care. It’s that simple. I’m supposed to be seen every several weeks. I’ve put in a request form for the last two weeks and I’ve heard nothing back. I’m in a dormitory where people blare their televisions, where I don’t sleep because they’re up all night; where I have to be hypervigilant because I’m being woken up four or five times in the night. I’m not even supposed to be in this environment, but here I am. Punishment for my reporting.
We need help. We need help bad. All of us. And as we see on the news regularly that mental health is a major problem and they’re funneling tens of millions and hundreds of millions of dollars into behavioral science organizations. None of us down here in the trenches, where we’re actually being hurt, caused harm, are seeing any kind of respite or relief. This is a call for help; it’s also a report.
My name is David Annarelli. I’m a political prisoner, wrongfully convicted and survivor of police brutality and gross brutality by the Virginia DOC, all of which has been documented. I’m a contributing writer at Prison Journalism Project. davidannarelli.wordpress.com. Thank you very much.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.
