#1
The worst one I saw had a wound on his finger when he initially went to the jail some months before. He kept complaining of pain. The jail employees did nothing. He said he would ask for help and be turned away by the nurse or ignored by the guards. He came to me for CANCER treatment, not for his finger, in an outpatient clinic. I saw his finger wrapped up (this was obviously done by someone medical).
I asked what happened and he said he couldn't even think straight it hurt so bad. He said it was injured during his arrest. I unwrapped it and it was absolutely necrotic, black, bone exposed. I was surprised it didn't smell worse. He had lost all feeling to the tip and mid of his finger but the base at and right above the knuckle was excruciatingly painful and discolored. I can't even imagine how he was getting by this way.
I assessed it and reported it to my charge nurse and the on call physician and he was sent to the ER. I saw him again a couple months later and he had his finger amputated. He thanked me and told me he felt so much better. I just cried hearing that having his ring finger cut off was something he was thanking me for.
I also had a patient with an STD in his ileostomy stoma. That was pretty rough too.
#2
I did a week of work release. Really just showed up to sleep, had my job schedule me all day every day so I had minimal time overall, still got to shower at my mom's and smoke a bowl before work so not the worst week of my life honestly even though I did have to squat and cough every time I went in.
So my first night there I'm alone in a section with 4 bunks and I'm tucked in, and I hear rhythmic grunting from next section over. All logic out the window, I'm certain I'm hearing prison s*x. I was scared and slept with my back pressed up against the wall.
The next night, I get checked in a little later in the evening.
But the dude next door was sticking to his schedule...
Pushups.
That's all I heard.
#3
My first bunkie at my parent institution got insanely sick and was complaining of crippling stomach pain to where he couldn’t even get out of bed for count. Medical not only wouldn’t schedule an appointment for him to come down, but they refused to send nurses to him because he was “probably faking for attention.”
After three months of this, they finally scheduled him to come down. Late stage stomach cancer. He was d**d by the end of the year.
What was supposed to be an 8 year sentence became a life sentence. RIP Gerry.
EDIT: Had his sentence wrong. 8-13 not 3-11. Still shouldn’t have been a life sentence.
EDIT 2: I know it was too late to save him, but they could have moved him to hospice months earlier and spared him some pain. Altogether from the beginning of his symptoms he lasted about 6 months.
A year later, another buddy of mine tested for colon cancer and they actually did a decent job with him. Rode him to Columbus weekly for chemo treatments and let him keep his bed and job assignments. So perhaps they learned their lesson?
Also, Gerry wasn’t a d*****r. He was in a bar fight that got out of hand when the other guy pulled a knife on him. Gerry admitted that he took it too far and that’s why he accepted an involuntary manslaughter charge instead of crying self defense. If I remember correctly, the victims family were okay with the deal he got (which you rarely see in terms of plea bargains.)
He was a good guy who’d had a rough life and was trying to better himself. He was good to me and showed me the ropes when I first got down. I know he had a daughter he was in contact with, but he was old and didn’t have any sort of social media so I wouldn’t know how to track her down. I hope she’s doing okay.
I don’t know about you, but I felt tormented just by reading some of these brutal tales. The truth is, we can’t even imagine what people who experience it firsthand go through. To get deeper insight into the matter, Bored Panda got in touch with Eden Lobo, a counselor and psychology professor, for an interview.
She began by comparing prison to a massive pressure cooker. “When you lock people away in crowded, understaffed spaces and strip them of their privacy and safety, a brutal survival economy takes over. Power and violence become the ultimate currency, and prisoners often feel forced to join tight-knit groups or put up a terrifyingly tough front just to keep from becoming a target,” she explained.
#4
What kind of a life was that kid ever gonna have with a dad like that. He was getting an education in prison after a life of crime and d**g a*******n. So sad.
#5
#6
Anyway, at mail call that evening I didn't see him around and went to the door where the guards enter and told the guard everything. I was transferred to a different unit and am pretty sure that he got disciplinary actions for that.
Our expert believes that the threat of danger behind bars is real every single second. Prisoners’ brains enter a permanent state of high alert, called hypervigilance. She stressed that they can’t afford to show fear, sadness, or vulnerability because someone might use it against them. As per our expert, they end up completely numbing their emotions just to get through the day.
“The tragic paradox is that the exact mental armor that keeps them safe inside prison is completely destructive once they get out. They can’t just flip a switch and turn off years of survival mode the moment the gates open. The brain gets rewired by that trauma, and the transition back to regular life is often incredibly jarring,” Prof. Lobo added.
#7
#8
S****l a*****t/r**e was bad. It wasn’t common but I happened. I never saw it but heard it. S*x in prison is very quick and stealthy. But happens a lot. Guards and inmates, inmates and inmates, even guards and guards. I listened to the girl in the cell next to mine get r***d by her cell mate and it still gives me nightmares.
Fights happened but were honestly kind of rare. Very catty, a lot of hair pulling and scratching. One girl got the side of her face clawed.
#9
Being doored meant you stay by the door till you get moved. No bathroom, no bed, no phone, no food, no nothing.
They would stomp this guy if he tried. Guards watched and laughed. It took 5 days.
We also conversed with our expert about the lasting trauma that inmates experience after coming out, and she called this Post-Incarceration Syndrome (PICS). Studies highlight that PICS is not currently a recognized psychiatric disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
However, the term is used by some researchers and practitioners to describe the very real psychological challenges that people who have been imprisoned may face upon reentry. Prof. Lobo narrated that even years later, a person might still find themselves pacing, refusing to sit with their back to a door in a restaurant, or jumping out of their skin at sudden noises.
“Their body is safely out of prison, but their nervous system is still trapped in the yard,” she commented.
#10
Prisons are nasty. They are horrifyingly disgusting.
Like... What do you mean, the unit had to go on lockdown and get disinfected for YEAST? What do MEAN, the whole prison gets sick in the winter every year due to RATS??!?!
#11
#12
edit: I need to add a semi-[un]related comment from the same friend on moving from a prison job to a regular public-facing job in the same field:
> I miss having gun coverage.
Prof. Lobo believes that reentering regular life also takes a massive toll on relationships. After years of forcing themselves not to feel anything, it’s difficult to suddenly be a warm, vulnerable partner or parent. According to her, many ex-inmates end up isolating themselves because the regular world feels unpredictable, loud, and overwhelming compared to the rigid structure they left behind.
“Ultimately, prison brutality doesn’t stay behind those concrete walls. It changes how a person perceives trust, safety, and human connection. Moreover, it leaves invisible scars that they carry with them into their living rooms, their jobs, and their communities for the rest of their lives,” she concluded.
#13
#14
Oil can be heated up surprisingly hot in a zip lock. They were thrown at the ceiling when you walked past a cell. When it pops it sprays everywhere.
He mentioned one instance where an inmate was bent over right as someone walked by and it full on hit him in the face. I have no idea what that would look like and I dont want to know.
#15
Well, that definitely gave me perspective on the impact these brutal experiences can have on people. I shudder to even think about those who get wrongly accused and have to go through such ordeals without fault. Anyway, dear readers, that’s it from our end, as we leave you to go through the rest of the list. If you know any such tales, feel free to share them with us in the comments!
#16
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#19
A gentleman who was laying on his bunk sat directly up, looked the cop right in the face and said "Oh yah?" and proceeded to get up and beat this cop stupid bloody in the minutes it took to get the riot officers in there and it took 4 of them to get him to stop.
Afterwards, a sergeant came in and told everyone that they would not be turning off the phones, as that's illegal, and asked everyone to just go about business as usual.
The image of that guy destroying the officer has never left the edges of my brain. I've seen a lot of things in life but that...that one really stuck with me.
#20
