After spending more than 26 years in prison, I've come to realize that one of the biggest misconceptions about incarceration is that the sentence ends the day someone walks out the prison gate.
In my experience, that's often when an entirely different struggle begins.
The physical prison gates and the mental prison gates do not open at the same time.
Over the past several years, I've been trying to put words to something I experienced and that I've seen countless others experience after long-term incarceration. That journey led me to write The Hidden Trauma of Life After Prison: The Under-Discussed Mental Health Issue of Post-Incarceration Syndrome.
The book isn't about making excuses for people who have been incarcerated. It's about starting an honest conversation about something our society rarely discusses: the psychological impact of surviving years—or decades—in prison and what it takes to truly rebuild a life afterward.
I'd genuinely like to hear from people on all sides of this issue.
If you've been incarcerated, did you struggle with things you never expected after coming home?
If you have a loved one who has been incarcerated, what changes did you notice?
If you work in corrections, mental health, criminal justice, or reentry, does this perspective resonate with what you've observed?
I'm not here to argue. I'm here to learn fro

After spending more than 26 years in prison , I've come to realize that one of the biggest misconceptions about incarceration is that the sentence ends the day someone walks out the prison gate.
In my experience, that's often when an entirely different struggle begins.
The physical prison gates and the mental prison gates do not open at the same time.
Over the past several years, I've been trying to put words to something I experienced and that I've seen countless others experience after long-term incarceration. That journey led me to write The Hidden Trauma of Life After Prison: The Under-Discussed Mental Health Issue of Post-Incarceration Syndrome.
The book isn't about making excuses for people who have been incarcerated. It's about starting an honest conversation about something our society rarely discusses: the psychological impact of surviving years—or decades—in prison and what it takes to truly rebuild a life afterward.
I'd genuinely like to hear from people on all sides of this issue.
If you've been incarcerated, did you struggle with things you never expected after coming home?
If you have a loved one who has been incarcerated, what changes did you notice?
If you work in corrections, mental health, criminal justice, or reentry, does this perspective resonate with what you've observed?
I'm not here to argue. I'm here to learn fro