Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1432934
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 NOVEMBER 2021 INTERVIEW reduced to 'clickbait' ject online. A very common misconception, for instance, is that if somebody openly says they are contemplat- ing suicide - or if they are making a show of their suicidality – then it's all just 'for attention'; and therefore, the danger isn't real. For starters, I can assure you that it is just not true. But there is also the fact that: if someone is faking suicidal tendencies, mere- ly to attract attention… that is in itself an indication that some- thing is seriously wrong. It would certainly set off alarm bells in my mind… so the attention would be warranted anyway. Another concern is that: while the comments were directed only at that one person… oth- ers, who might also be expe- riencing suicidal tendencies, would get to hear them. How much truth is there, in the be- lief that this can encourage others to take their own lives? It is definitely a concern, yes. One of the symptoms of suicidal- ity is, in fact, the feeling that peo- ple around you would be 'better off if you were dead'. And that is exactly what those people were saying, in the video: which is why the Chamber of Psychologists condemned it, in fact. Once again, however, that it is simply not true at all. In all such cases, there will be people you don't even know you, who will not want you to commit sui- cide… let alone the people who do know you. The problem with videos like this, and actions like this, is precisely that they make others in that situation think: 'Maybe they're right. Maybe I should jump…' And yes: that could re- sult in 'copycat suicides'… So I think the most responsi- ble way to handle cases like this, would be to talk about suicide itself; research suicide; ask ques- tions about suicide… rather than to take one single, isolated inci- dent, and use it as clickbait. This was not the only suicide to have been reported. A series of unexplained deaths in pris- on – 14, in just over two years: several of them suicides – also caused widespread discussion. Apart from your role in the Chamber, you are also a prison psychologist. Do you share the view that such a high number of fatalities indicate that some- thing is clearly wrong in the ad- ministration of prison? In your question, you were care- ful to distinguish that not all the 14 deaths were, in fact, suicides. Unfortunately, however, that is not how it was reported in the media. Most media reported '14 suicides'… which was not the case. Just to clarify: the number 14 refers to the total deaths that oc- curred under the tenure of our last Prison Director: that is, from mid-June 2018, to date... Would you consider that a high number, though? [Shrugs] One death is a 'high number', in my opinion. Realis- tically speaking, however… the fact remains that a prison en- vironment is not conducive to good health. In our own prison, we have an ageing population as it is; and even the simple fact that inmates spend so much time indoors… none of it, at the end of the day, is conducive to good health. But whether those 14 deaths represent an increase, or not… I can't really answer that: even be- cause the prison population has never been as high, as it is today. Five years ago – when I joined the prison staff myself – the pop- ulation was only half of what it is now… Limiting ourselves only to the suicide cases: there has been a lot of talk about the condi- tions of prison, and the milita- ristic approach of Alexander Dalli. Would you say that these factors may be conducive to a higher rate of suicide among inmates? Are you serious? No! Other- wise, it would imply that people committed suicide 'because their cell had been painted black': to mention just one of the claims made in the press… I was thinking more along the lines of: because their lives were made Hell… I would say that has more to do with how it was reported, than with reality. As a psychologist, it was never my place to comment publicly about those reports: but what I can say is this. With every article that came out, I did my own research into the claims – because it is in my own interest to do so: as a psychologist, it is important to reassure myself that I am not working in a place that promotes this behaviour… … and this, by the way, was even suggested: that psycholo- gists were 'doing nothing about their clients being tortured', and so on… So it was a very difficult time for us; and, well, to be honest I stopped reading articles after a certain point: because I thought that it was all just fiction. Nonetheless, I genuinely believe that the people who should know what we are doing, do know. Be- cause in spite of all the negative reporting, there have been huge developments, over the past five years, in terms of the care and reintegration of inmates. There is even a 'Care and Reintegration Team', comprising 30 profession- als: psychologists, psychiatrists, doctors, social workers… When I joined five years ago, none of this even existed. I was one of only three, very green, prison psychologists… Do you not see any contradic- tion, however, between the improved levels of psychologi- cal care, and at the high rate of suicide? Why would you see a contra- diction? One thing to consider is that the prison population, for the past two years, has been between 700 and 900 – that's around double the capacity it was designed for; although there have been new extensions. Another is that there is a high risk of suicide associated with prison to begin with. To be more accurate, however: there are certain times, or mo- ments, which may entail a higher risk of suicide than others. Gen- erally speaking, prison inmates are most at risk of suicide in four specific circumstances: for the first six weeks after they are ar- rested (while they are still await- ing trial); when they do get sen- tenced – and especially, when the sentence is either very long, or very short (I'll explain why short- ly); when they get bad news from home, or when there is a break- down in relationships; and lastly, in the final four weeks prior to release. There are also certain factors that are specific to Malta. Our small size, for example, means that inmates are inevitably going to be released back into the same environment they had come from. In other countries, you could always try to start afresh in another state or county, where nobody knows you; here, that is simply impossible. So it is very intimidating, for someone to leave prison and in- tegrate back into a society, as a different person. It is easier to go back to who they were before. Either way, the person's anxie- ty-levels will shoot sky-high, at these moments. This is also why both very long, and very short, prison sentences tend to have the same effect: they induce a lot of anxiety. As a prison psychologist, then, I look out for those moments when my clients will be most anxious or alarmed. I watch out for when they come in – because of course, some of them are repeat clients – and when they are due to be released; I watch out for whenev- er they have court: because even seemingly small things can have a serious effect – like a case being deferred for the umpteenth time; or a bail decision that wasn't even heard… These are all high-risk situa- tions which we already recog- nise: and while I won't go into details about any particular case – mostly out of respect for my clients: which include all prison inmates – they were also issues that played a role in a lot of the suicide cases we had. Now: I'm not specifically blam- ing overcrowding… or family is- sues… or problems with the legal system. etc. All I'm saying is that suicide is a very, very complex is- sue. And it can never be brought down to only one, simplified fac- tor.