Inmates have a variety of ways they deal with stress. Music, recreational activities, exercising and socializing. Life is full of expectations, commitments, deadlines, frustrations and demands. People are faced with stress every day that it has become a way of life. Stress is a response to evens that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some ways. According to Gilabert (2007:10) stress is defined as an emotional reaction occurring in the presence of certain stimuli that usually trigger the body’s coping mechanisms to face the new circumstance. Stress is caused by different factors, situations and pressure that are face by an individual. The situations and pressure that causes stress are known as stressors. Stress is not a sickness but it can have serious effects to the body. What causes stress depends, at least in part, on your perception of it (smith, et.al.2012:3). That is, if you are faced with a situation and you think of it negatively, then it will have negative effects, thus, if you look at it positively, then it will turn out to have positive effects. There are many life changes that causes stress some are positive and some are negative, however both causes stress. Negative major life changes are events such as death of a spouse, divorce, marriage pregnancy and so on. People who are faced with such problems have more pressure and worries that mostly stay with them for a very long time.
The difference in stressors inside versus outside is more in the quality of the stressors – not the intensity or frequency. That said, people inside the barbed wire have one tremendous disadvantage when it comes to stress management. Outside the wires you can usually walk away from your stress – at least enough to catch your breath. In prison, however, you often must remain where you’re told and have limited freedom to get temporary relief. This can create some intense, pressure cooker situations.
Prison stresses start with the trauma most experience on arrest. Can you imagine the emotional reaction you would have to being told you’re under arrest, then handcuffed and brought to jail where you wait for weeks to months for the slow legal wheels of justice to turn and tell you your future? Jail and legal stressors can be catastrophic and then by the time they get to, “The big house,” they are well into grieving the loss of family, friends and career. Family financial hardships often weigh heavily on former bread-winners and separation from children and family are devastating for all; but especially for women. Another unique thing about prison stressors is that you are forced to be in such close quarters with inmates and staff who may cause you stress. And it is often very difficult to get away from those who cause you distress.
One way inmates deal with stress is through music. Music has been used to treat health problems as early as the beginning of time. Only since the beginning of the 20th century music has been used to treat different psychological problems. The official term of music therapy was given during World War II for soldiers who experienced shocked after battle. Not much longer, in 1971 the American Association for Music Therapy was formed. One of the many uses for music therapy is stress management. Throughout the course of a day people experience many stressors, school, work and family, just to name a few. Music has a unique ability to lower levels of anxiety and tension when listened to under the proper conditions. There are many correlations between the types of music listened to and the amount of decreased stress. To explain how some music lowers levels of stress and others don’t, one should know how sound is processed through the brain. The auditory system controls how people physiological and behavioral react to sound. Sound moves from the inner ear to the auditory cortex directly. Then sound moves to the temporal lobes where it is consciously perceived. Depending on the type of music will determine the response. As said by Westman, “The arousal level of the central nervous system depends upon the intensity, complexity, variability, predictability and meaning of sound stimuli. The auditory system responds most to changes in timing of sound stimuli” (Westman 293). Different rhythms and other musical characteristics will determine how one reacts to the given piece. When conducting a study Krusmhansl played three pieces, each picked to represent the emotions of sadness, fear, and happiness for a group of people. As he said “The sad excerpt had slow tempos, minor harmonies, and fairly constant ranges of pitch and dynamics. The fear excerpt had rapid tempos, dissonant harmonies, and large variations of dynamics and pitch. The happy excerpts had rapid tempos, dancelike rhythms, major harmonies and constant range of pitch and dynamics.” (Krusmhansl 46) His findings concluded that the ratings for the intended emotions tested, were significantly higher than ratings for unintended ones. The different characteristics such as tempo or key, of the songs determined what emotion it received. This proves music has an emotional meaning behind it.
Another way incarcerated individual deal with stress is through exercising. This is another variable situation but, again, any exercise at all is a million times better than none. After 20 minutes of exercise the brain starts releasing epinephrine and endorphins into the system, which lower tension and help stress stabilization. But even if you can’t take 20 minutes or more, you shouldn’t just throw in the towel. Even a 5 minutes stretch and breathing session can provide a calming effect that can last for hours.
Talking to family and positive people is another way to deal with stress while incarcerated. Most inmates talk to family and friends who keep them positive about the situations. I have experience how a phone call can make a dramatic diffierence in ones life. Positivity people are detrimental to stress management.