Mental Health Awareness Week

Throughout the month of May, National Prison Radio will be broadcasting interviews and shows packed with ideas and inspiration about keeping your mental health strong in prison. 

In a powerful interview, Life After Prison’s Zak Khalil and therapist Alex Holmes join NPR’s Tre in the HMP Brixton studios. They share ideas about how to cope with prison life and how to prepare for release. 

Tre, who will be released soon, tells Zak and Alex about the anxiety this is causing him. 

“I’ve been in jail since 2018 … the whole world has changed in that time.” 

Zak discusses the feeling of being on high-alert throughout his prison sentences and how, after release, he realised that this level of stress was not good for his mental health. 

“The first time I came out I was angry with the way I was treated; angry that my friends didn’t have my back; angry at society; I was an angry kid.

“But the last time, I thought … why am I angry? Society doesn’t owe me anything, I owe myself! I’ve got to do the work to be the person I want to be!” 

Speaking about his planned release, Tre says he can’t believe it is actually going to happen.

“It feels like a prank. Until they open that door, and I’m gone, it’s gonna feel like a prank.”

He tells Alex and Zak that there’s one big worry for him. 

“There’s one thing that holds us back, it’s the environment.”

In this thought-provoking discussion, Zak and Alex explore these fears with Tre and Alex shares some ideas for how people in prison can cope when things feel overwhelming. Some of these strategies include: 

• Angry letters: write about what’s making you angry. Once you have finished, rip it up. Then use these ideas as a base to journal about how you’re feeling. This could include writing down your thoughts and reflections on why you’re feeling this way and what you can do to get through it. 

• Regulate your breathing: as any Bob and Beyond listener will know, Tre swears by the square breathing technique (also known as box breathing): inhale for a count of four, hold for a count of four, exhale for four and hold for four. This helps to calm the nervous system and reduce stress. 

• Engage your senses with the 54321 technique, also known as a grounding technique: you must notice five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste. By engaging your senses, this can help to bring your focus back to the present moment.

• When you find yourself in a state of anxiety or panic, move to a different space.

You can hear Alex Holmes and Life After Prison’s Zak Khalil on NPR Talk on Monday 12th May 2025. NPR Talk is on every weekday (Mon-Fri) at 12 midday and 6pm. 

In other NPR news: 

NPR shows have been nominated in six different categories at the ARIAS. (The Audio & Radio Industry Awards). The winners will be announced in May. Stay tuned to NPR to find out how we got on. 

National Prison Radio is the world’s first national radio station for people in prison. It’s available on in-cell TVs and Launchpad laptops in prisons across England and Wales. 

You can get involved with NPR by calling: 0808 1a23 1234 and leaving a message. You can request a track, ask a question, or share an inspirational story. We listen to every single message we receive. 

If NPR is not available in your prison, call us on the above number and leave a message telling us the prison you are in and how long it has been down for.