I think a question often posed by many prisoners is how they can numb their minds because to be fully awake to the day to day living in prison is severely psychologically damaging so today I thought I’d write about the various techniques I’ve seen inside.

I’m sure everyone can imagine that one of the main ways to numb a brain is through drugs and, in fact, one Scottish prison (I can’t remember which one) was in the news recently because a lot of prisoners were caught high on drugs on Christmas day. I have to say that I have stayed far away from drugs but I am aware that the vast majority of substance abuse inside is through prescription drugs.

Yes, yes, yes, I know that the thought of drones delivering illegal drugs is exciting and makes great headlines but the reality is that it is very rare. Through bullying, coercion or payment, people obtain medication from others who have been prescribed them and through their abuse, prisoners are able to blank out their reality.

Before we had TVs in our cells, there used to be a “vegetable patch” in the halls – this would be directly in front of the hall TV and guys would spend hours just gawping in open mouthed gormlessness at whatever was on. Now, though, our attempts to numb our minds are helped by the constant drivel spouting from Channel 5 or E4.

Something I have long found amazing is how much people can sleep in here. A few of the guys I know seem to sleep for about 18 hours a day! Their plan is to sleep their sentence away which, to me, seems such a waste but it is their way of numbing their brain.

Of course, not everyone wants to numb their brain – many want to expand and develop it through education and other self-development work and I am in this camp. I want to learn new stuff and I want to access opportunities that I haven’t had before.

However, this creates a huge gap in attitudes which itself creates tension between prisoners but also between prisoners and staff. Many prisoners and staff seem to resent prisoners improving their minds and I would hazard a guess that there is a higher level of qualifications in the population of prisoners than staff which is difficult for staff to handle.

I feel I should point out that I reckon it’s not only prisoners who waste their lives by numbing their brains. So many people are letting their time drift away and not living purposefully so even though you’re not being held in captivity, you can ask yourself the question: are you also numbing your brain?

NaN.