El Chapo suffers from psychological problems in prison

• El Chapo is in very poor condition.
• He is suffering from a variety of disorders.
• He says that «he has suffered a lot».

While serving a life sentence in the US prison, ADX Florence, the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel and one of the most powerful and dangerous drug traffickers in the world is suffering the consequences of his actions. El Chapo has been suffering from psychological problems in prison.

Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán sent an affidavit in September 2021, written in the first person, to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Director of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Michael Carvajal, and ADX Florence Prison officials. ADX Florence is the maximum security federal prison in Colorado where he will spend the rest of his life.

El Chapo suffers from psychological problems in prison

In the letter, the Mexican drug trafficker — who will be remembered for his media influence, his escape from high-security prisons and his brutality — explains that, only three years after being imprisoned, he’s suffering from depression, hunger, sleep problems, headaches, memory loss, muscle cramps and anxiety.

El Chapo complained that the treatment he has received is “cruel and unfair”, adding that he has “suffered a lot” because he’s not given enough to eat and he’s usually hungry. Guzman, who previously escaped through a tunnel from a high-security prison in Mexico, said he is now subject to «continuous cell checks and security cameras even in the cell where he lives.»

Analyzed by specialists

Psychologist Mónica Ramírez Cano, who was able to carry out an in-depth analysis of El Chapo’s behavior while he was incarcerated in the Altiplano maximum security prison in Mexico, provided details of the psychological problems that El Chapo suffers from, according to Infobae.

There are a variety of possible mental and physical consequences that the drug trafficker might suffer as a result of the «severe measures of deprivation of liberty» to which he is subjected. The following can be observed in El Chapo: deterioration of his personality, impaired cognitive and sensory functions, and increased depression due to lack of support networks, in addition to psychological problems.

El Chapo’s ailments

“It is important to point out that people confined in maximum security prisons such as ADX Florence tend to suffer an abrupt depersonalization, that is, what they were ‘outside’ no longer exists, they lose their identity, which makes them more vulnerable than they already feel for having lost their freedom. In such a way they must begin to build a new identity based on their current conditions and their essence (…) This generates high anxiety, anguish, anger, sadness, depression and a series of emotions that they are not used to dealing with,» Ramírez Cano explained to Infobae Mexico.

While El Chapo is serving his life sentence it is likely that his cognitive functions (perception, concentration, attention, memory, alertness and thought processes) will inevitably deteriorate. This will also be complemented by a sensory deficit, meaning his senses (sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch) may go through significant changes.

El Chapo is in difficult circumstances

El Chapo is subject to special surveillance and security measures. He lives in strict isolation without any human contact other than the constant presence of the guards, who are prohibited from speaking with him, eliminating any possibility that the drug trafficker has a support network.

“The support networks (family, friends, groups of different religions that are inside the centers, etc.) play an essential role in the mental health and emotional stability already affected by confinement, of people deprived of their freedom, who have different styles and adaptation needs, in some the process is faster than in others, but always, under these conditions, it will present itself with difficulty,” she concluded the interview with Infobae.