OK as far as I'm concerned, and good questions. Hope you get some good responses.

The general advice is to see a doc for anything medically related to insomnia. So I'm unsure about the cramping, that might be worth seeing a doc. As for stress and anxiety, yes they are potent underlying causes.

The good news is the structure of prison ought to be very good for establishing a very consistent sleep-wake routine, and that's a top priority for better sleep. Especially a consistent wake time.

My suggestion would be for him to get a job and keep learning by whatever means possible, so he feels like he's making some progress in life, whatever that may be. He should also try to get some good exercise most every day.
And of course stay clean. Hopefully there's some rehab training where' he's at.

Kind thoughts and prayers to you and your grandson for a better future.

I think you can definitely recover from insomnia and still lead your normal life and deal with life's stressors - so of course, yes there is hope in this or any situation.

I agree with Hypnos, that creating a consistent sleep/wake schedule can be incredibly helpful - exercise can be too.

If therapy/pastoral counseling/group therapy is safe and accessible this can be helpful too - talking about all of the things that are causing stress and anxiety can definitely relieve some pressure and help your grandson sleep better.

Regarding the little noises - I would think these are anxiety producing and not having much control over his situation at the moment, I would think they could definitely cause a feeling of helplessness and loss of control. I would again, stress talking to a counselor of some sort if services are available to reduce some of the emotional burden.

Wishing you and your grandson peace <3

I wrote much of the same in your latest post but prisons are noisy at night. His anxiety and insomnia might be from the stress he is experiencing in prison and the inability to relax and trust others. One can't trust anyone in prison and has to be on high alert all the time. It can be hard to go from high alert to relaxed on his bunk in his cell. Plus various men are moaning and crying and yelling even at night. He has fear and this might be causing him to have anxiety after eating or while eating if he is fearful in the mess hall. Remember he is on high alert in the mess hall, too. High alert pulls the blood away from the stomach which it needs for digestion. A prisoner is never safe and this can cause terrible, great anxiety. His insomnia may be related to his grief over having lost control of his life, his anger at himself, etc. It's the noise, and constant fear, and knowing one has lost control of one's life that likely cause his psychological issues - it's not that the noise causes the fear of loss of control. It's the entire situation, plus the noise, plus the fear, plus the loss of control. If you can write to him or talk to him about his feelings being normal and maybe related to his stress level and true loss of control over his life, it could help. If you don't talk to him about what is going on, he may never put two and two together. He needs coping skills and he has to learn them quick in prison. You might send him the book "The Buddhist on Death Row" which is about a man on death row who overcomes his own psychological problems in prison. But this man has also written his own memoir which may be valuable to your GS.

Thanks again. You do seem to understand.