'Prison guards can never be weak': the hidden PTSD crisis in America's jails

‘Eight and the gate’ is a corrections officer’s unofficial motto, but the hyper-vigilance of the job and the episodes of inmate violence take an extremely high toll. ‘We’re doing time too, we’re just getting paid for it’Michael Van Patten’s 18-year-old son came home to find his dad crouching on the kitchen floor, gun in hand, a nearly empty bottle of gin by his side, tears running down his cheeks. Trevor grabbed the weapon, ran up to his room, shut the door and didn’t speak to