This letter was written by a person incarcerated at Valley State.
Our privileges and freedoms have been taken away due to the pandemic. There is a fear that we may not even get those liberties back post pandemic. There is a long standing notion in California prisons, once CDCR takes something away from us we never get it back.
They took away our weights in the 90s. They took away our tobacco in the early 2000s. Now due to the pandemic most of our liberties are gone. Chances are we may not get some of them back.
On a personal level I am having a real difficult time. Our mental health services have been disrupted due to COVID. I have not had regular visits with mental health. I am bi-polar. I have a personality disorder also.
I am prone to suicidal ideology and thoughts, and too aggressive and violent thoughts as well. I attend regular therapy sessions in normal times. COVID has reduced us to emergencies only.
If I’m having harmful or self-destructive thoughts I must fill out a request for a visit and wait seven to 10 days to be seen. By then I could be dead or kill someone else.
Our mental health system is subpar as it is. COVID makes it even more so. They are not even trained in treating guys like me that have personality disorders and are sociopathic. The pandemic has also had a huge impact on inmates serving life sentences.
Those inmates are required to participate in self help or rehabilitative programs in order to prepare for parole hearings. Some of those guys are having those hearings without being able to participate in those programs due to COVID.
COVID has really turned our small world upside down. There are a wide range of negative impacts on us as inmates. At this point it feels like relief may never come.
