Depression, anxiety and stress are some of the mental health problems people commonly experience. According to 2017 global statistics from the World Health Organization and the Philippines, more than 300 million people suffer from depression, an increase of more than 18 percent during the period 2005-2015 (Mateo, 2017). , with a prevalence rate ranging from 2.6 to 29.5 percent. (Magtubo, 2017). Of all people with depression, 85% live in low- and middle-income countries (Khan, 2018). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In the Philippines alone, an estimated 3.29 million people live with depression and 3.07 million live with anxiety (Mateo, 2017). ). These are among the most common mental health issues faced by incarcerated people. Shrestha, et al. (2017), argued that depression is the most common form of mental disorder among prisoners, with a much higher prevalence than in the general population. Criminologists have observed a growing number of women implicated in crimes and found in jails and prisons in countries such as Brazil, Israel and the United States. It has been noted that in several countries around the world, there is an increasing trend in the number of incarcerated mothers. Incarceration results in the physical separation of mothers from their children. In the Philippines, there is an increase in the population of jails and prisons brought about by the anti-drug campaign, which began in 2016. This was the year President Duterte's war on drugs began. Among this growing number of women, many are mothers. The family is considered the primary institution capable of satisfying an individual's natural needs, with the mother being the primary caregiver. Tremblay and Sutherland (2017) found evidence suggesting that maternal incarceration can have negative implications for children. Being a mother involves having one or more children and involves a lot of responsibilities in gestation, care, nurturing, guiding and ultimately letting go of children as responsible and functioning members of society and the demands are infinite. One of the negative effects of maternal incarceration is that these children left behind are vulnerable to conduct problems, antisocial behavior and even risk dropping out of school or experiencing academic failure. There are many studies on the effects of incarceration on children, but few in the Philippines attempt to understand the experience of motherhood in detention from the perspective of mothers themselves. Incarceration affects not only children but also mothers themselves. . Previous studies have shown that prison confinement is a potential stressor. According to Unver et al. (2013), among the incarcerated people he studied, they suffered from depression, anxiety, and stress. Contributing factors among mothers include the custody arrangements of their children at the time of arrest and imprisonment. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized document from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The present study involves the assessment of the mental health of incarcerated people. women by determining their level of depression, anxiety and stress and by knowing their lived experience as a mother. The researcher, being a mother herself, finds motherhood difficult despite her physical presence at home. She wants to know how these mothers..