Anxiety after release is not a sign of weakness - it’s a normal, adaptive response to major change. Life outside the prison gates can be unpredictable: new expectations, unfamiliar routines, and social pressures can feel destabilising, especially after the structure and control of prison life.
In prison, survival often depends on hypervigilance - constantly scanning for risk, reading people, and protecting yourself emotionally. This becomes second nature and can be quite automatic. That same hyper-awareness, while essential inside, can become exhausting outside. Crowded buses, sudden noises, or being surrounded by strangers can trigger an alert response. Even simple decisions - what to eat, where to go, what to wear - can feel paralysing when you haven’t had to make them for years.
Anxiety in this context is not just psychological; it’s physiological. The body’s stress response system - often shaped by trauma long before imprisonment - remains on high alert. Without support, it can spiral into avoidance, anger, or isolation, increasing the risk of relapse or reoffending.
We recognise that behaviour is communication - not defiance, laziness, or resistance. Many people leaving custody have lived through significant trauma, from childhood adversity to violence, neglect, and systemic exclusion. These experiences shape how people manage stress, trust others, and feel safe in the world.
We start by working to understand why someone feels anxious, rather than judging that they feel anxious. We prioritise safety, choice, empowerment, and collaboration - key principles that help people regain control and agency in their lives at their own pace.
When we work with someone who’s just come home, we don’t rush their goals. We start with the basics: sleep, eating, reconnecting with family, learning how to slow down. Our mentors - many with lived experience themselves - focus on grounding, building trust, and helping the person notice what safety feels like in their body again.
Common Sources of Anxiety After Release
Every person’s journey is unique, but several themes come up time and again in our work:
- 1. Unstructured time – The sudden absence of a daily routine can create disorientation. Without set meal times, movement rules, or curfews, days can stretch into uncertainty.
- 2. Reconnecting with family – Relationships often carry guilt, shame, or complicated emotions. Rebuilding trust takes time and can trigger fear of rejection.
- 3. Financial pressure – Finding work or managing benefits can be daunting, particularly when literacy, technology, or mental health challenges are present.
- 4. Housing insecurity – Not knowing where you’ll sleep creates constant background stress. For many, stable housing is the foundation of recovery and change.
- 5. Social stigma – The fear of being judged or discriminated against can cause people to withdraw from community spaces and opportunities.
Anxiety often shows up in small ways: sleepless nights, irritability, or avoiding phone calls. These aren’t failures - they’re signs that someone’s nervous system is still adjusting to a world that feels unfamiliar.
Practical Ways to Manage Anxiety During Transition
Our mentors and participants have shared strategies that help ease anxiety and build confidence during those first crucial months of freedom:
1. Grounding Techniques
Grounding helps bring the body back to the present moment when anxiety rises. Simple breathing exercises - like inhaling slowly for four seconds and exhaling for six - can calm the nervous system. Some people use sensory grounding: noticing five things they can see, four they can touch, three they can hear, two they can smell, one they can taste.
2. Establishing Gentle Routines
Recreating a sense of structure provides stability. It doesn’t need to mirror prison routines - it can be as simple as having set times for meals, walks, or calls with a mentor. Predictability builds safety.
3. Limiting Overwhelm
The outside world can be overstimulating. Big crowds, social media, or endless choices can increase stress. Taking small steps - one task at a time - helps regain a sense of control.
4. Peer Mentoring and Connection
Talking with someone who’s been through the transition is one of the most powerful antidotes to anxiety. Peer mentors bring understanding that professionals alone can’t provide. They help normalise fear and model calmness through lived experience.
5. Mind-Body Awareness
Exercise, walking, stretching, or creative activities help regulate stress hormones. For those with access, yoga, mindfulness, or simple breathing practices can rebuild the connection between body and mind.
6. Recognising and Naming Emotions
It’s okay to feel anxious, angry, or scared - naming those emotions reduces their power. Mentors often work with individuals to build emotional vocabulary and self-compassion, replacing old patterns of self-blame with curiosity.
The Role of Mentoring in Recovery
At its heart, trauma-informed mentoring is about relationship. It’s about being seen, heard, and believed by someone who understands that change takes time. Our mentors don’t fix - they walk alongside. They model stability, calm, and boundaries, helping people learn to trust themselves again.
Through weekly conversations, practical support, and emotional reflection, mentors help participants develop self-awareness - the key to recognising triggers before they escalate. Over time, the relationship itself becomes a mirror, showing the mentee that they are capable, worthy, and resilient.
We often say that mentoring is not about removing anxiety - it’s about helping people live alongside it safely. The goal is not to erase fear but to transform it into focus, to channel energy towards purpose rather than survival.
A Mentor’s Reflection
One of our mentors, David (not his real name), shared his experience of working with men during their first weeks after release:
“The biggest thing I see is people feeling guilty for being scared. They think they should be happy to be out, but actually they’re terrified. My job is to help them see that’s normal. We start small - a walk, a coffee, a chat about what feels safe today. You can’t rebuild your life in a week. You start by calming your body so your mind can follow.”
That quiet, patient approach changes everything. It replaces judgment with empathy, urgency with pacing, and isolation with human connection.
Moving from Fear to Freedom
Freedom, after all, is not just about walking through the gate - it’s about learning how to feel safe in the world again. Anxiety doesn’t disappear overnight; it transforms as people begin to trust themselves and others.
The transition to freedom is a process of rediscovering agency - making choices, setting boundaries, and believing in the possibility of change. Mentoring offers a bridge between the institution and the individual, the past and the future, fear and hope.
For those leaving custody, and for the professionals and volunteers walking beside them, remembering this truth is vital: healing begins not when fear disappears, but when it is met with understanding.
If you or someone you support is struggling with anxiety after release, our trauma-informed mentors can help.
We provide one-to-one support, group sessions, and practical guidance to help people find safety, confidence, and belonging after prison.