Fatores que influenciam na saúde mental dos internos da unidade prisional da ressocialização de Grajaú

Abstract

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and does not consist merely of the absence of disease or infirmity. Understanding the mental state of the incarcerated individual expands the possibilities of intervention in the field of prevention and health promotion and reduction of psychological problems resulting from imprisonment (Araújo et al., 2009). In this context, the study aimed to investigate the factors that lead individuals deprived of their liberty to develop mental health problems. This is qualitative-quantitative research. After approval by the Research Ethics Committee, this was carried out on October 26, 2023 at the Unidade Prisional de Grajaú - MA. The study included 30 inmates, including pretrial and sentenced inmates, who agreed to participate in the research. The results obtained in the research highlighted the factors that directly interfere with the mental health of the inmates interviewed. In the results, 43% are in the age group between 18 and 25 years old, 60% have only incomplete primary education, 60% are mixed race, 53% have been imprisoned for one (01) to five (05) years, 60% report that they feel a lack of attention from their family, 43% rate their mental health as good, 40% say that they feel tired for several days, 43% have difficulty sleeping and need to sleep more than usual, 36% say feel low self-esteem, depressed or without perspective and 60% say they have never had thoughts of hurting themselves in any way, or even suicidal thoughts. In view of the above, we found that the prison population has mitigating prerequisites for developing mental disorders, as the signs reported by the majority of interviewees offer the imminent possibility of phobias, depression, anxiety, among others. We believe that the research provides relevant information for expanding projects in the prison system and for the development of public health policies, with regard to the mental health of those deprived of liberty. Currently these demands are outlined in the National Health Plan for the Penitentiary System (2003), which provides for actions to prevent psychosocial problems resulting from incarceration, however these goals are far from being met