From Persecution to Prison - Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of ...

In many facilities, the response to a suicidal detainee is to put them insegregation or solitary confinement. This woman and a number of otherdetainees interviewed cited this practice as a reason for not telling healthstaff about suicidal thoughts. Commented this woman:They would have put me in a room that was much worse…Where I would have been alone and that would have been much worse.After 11 months in detention, she was granted asylum and released.Since release, she denies having any suicidal thoughts.Limited Mental Health ServicesDespite the high level of psychological symptoms and a large proportionof individuals who reported interest in receiving counseling (69%), suchservices were either not available or limited and not sustained. Individualsoften did not request counseling because they were unaware of its availabilityor told there were no such services. Only 6 individuals (13%) whowanted counseling received this service from the detention center. Anadditional 7 detainees reported receiving support which they consideredcounseling from non-INS sources, such as religious or volunteer visitors.Although medications were provided to several detainees, approximately40% of individuals wanting medications did not receive them. Again, thiswas in part due to detainees not knowing whether such medications wereavailable. Another subject reported a positive reaction to counseling shereceived from a volunteer visitor, and expressed a desire for more.If there was someone to talk to about my problems, I would be interestedin talking to them. It’s good because it comforts you and you feelyou are not alone.Despite improvement of symptoms after release, INS detention, likemany of the traumas experienced by asylum seekers in their countries ororigin, was often a source of persistent chronic suffering. One womanwho was reinterviewed after being granted asylum and released reflectedon the impact of detention.Being in detention was like being dead. I didn’t have a life or hope forlife, I just felt dead. There were times I couldn’t even imagine that oneday I would be free. I’m very happy because I have my liberty, but I feelthat the detention adds to my problems now of fear. What I experiencedthere is very difficult to forget. Every day I think about my life in prison.2. Physical Health and Dissatisfaction with Health ServicesThe detained asylum seekers interviewed for this study were relativelyyoung (mean age 28) and, prior to experiencing the persecution whichcaused them to flee from their countries of origin, almost all reported havingbeen in good health. However, 34% described their physical health as8 FROM PERSECUTION TO PRISON