Insider Scoop: Treating Pain in a Prison, Part Three

  For a few years, I worked clinically in a Maximum Security Prison in Africa… I mostly had to deal with Inmates who lives with painful conditions; much of their pain was due to common ailments, like old fractures and others a bit weirder, unexplained phenomena. I can only share a very limited amount of information due to patient-privacy obligations and safety concerns (literally fearing for mine own life and those I love).

  Well, this Post will have a bit of a different ring to it…

  I had an Inmate living with headaches, most probably due to trigger points in his deep and superficial neck extensors. Surely, his mental wellbeing and psychological background had a profound influence on his perception of pain. This man, in his late thirties, has experienced these headaches for about four years.

  On examination, his neck extensors were severely tight and painful to touch; palpitation leads to his typical headaches he felt behind his eyes. A diagnosis of a tension headache was made. After a few consultations, it was clear that this man had profound feelings of guilt and anguish due to his crimes. He was one of the very few who I believe showed signs of true remorse. I don’t believe he had the typical antisocial behavioural traits as one would expect of an Inmate. I referred him to a psychologist together with medical and conventional treatment.

  He didn’t attempt to keep his criminal history a mystery. He was once an assassin (truly, I shit you not). His life changed after he had to take out another man, with the man’s daughter as payment for the murder… Soon afterwards, he was arrested by the police. When in court, his proceedings were to be drawn out, as this is the norm in Africa. He refused though, confessed, and asked the Judge to sentence him immediately so that he may start repenting for his sins. He was sentenced to a few lifetimes in prison.

  This is kind of exactly what he did. He took full responsibility for his actions and made peace with the fact that he would not ever be part of a normal society again. He refused to join any of the prison gangs (90% of people do) and continued with his life in solitude, or rather, as much as a prison can offer. The man faced many trials in prison though, like being assaulted. He never fought back and took it as his due.

  I treated his pain for about eight weeks and afterwards only during exacerbations of his symptoms. We had many discussions about ethics and how exactly he ties in with it. He was also a rather proud father, and did whatever he could for his young daughter. I remember he built a doll house out of wood scraps (believe it or not, it didn’t even look as bad as one might suspect).

  Fast-forward a few years, about two years after I left the prison. While doing some documentation in my office, I receive a phone call from a number I didn’t recognise. It was him…

  He just wanted to check up on me and find out how I was doing; he somehow managed to smuggle a phone into a maximum security prison.

  What I found utterly disturbing is the fact that he had my personal phone number. We weren’t even allowed to bring cell phones into the prison?! I to this day do not know how he got my number, but I suspect that he must’ve gotten it from one of the (‘lenient’) guards. In complete shock, I had a full-blown anxiety attack in my office. I mean, if he could get my phone number, he could surely trace my whereabouts. And no matter what, he was an assassin.

  I did not want to ghost him, knowing that he may get upset. You also can’t really report the matter, as he could get in trouble at the prison, and one does not mess with an Inmate’s prison life… I’m also sure he had a network of friends outside.

  I chatted with him for a while until he asked me for money one day. I told him that money ruins a friendship and I believe he got the message. After that, he slowly stopped messaging me and the relationship dwindled.

  To this day, I haven’t heard from him again. If I were to be Epstein’ed, know that it was most probably due to this Blog Post…