SEATTLE — As Joey Pedersen made his way to solitary confinement last month, Washington State prison officers handed him a roll of toilet paper, a bar of soap and a pack of documents including a flier titled “101 Ways to Relieve Stress.”

He reviewed the suggestions in his new cell, where he would spend 23 hours a day alone. “Plant a tree.” “Go on a picnic.” “Put air freshener in your car.” “Avoid negative people.”

“Relax,” the document concluded, “you have the rest of your life.”

The options did not give Mr. Pedersen, who is serving life sentences for murders, much peace, but they did make him chuckle. To him, the document was just the latest sign that prison officials were out of touch with mental health issues among inmates, while using solitary confinement to address even minor slights.

After the document was brought to their attention, leaders of the state Department of Corrections said in interviews this week that they would no longer use it, calling it a well-intentioned effort that “missed the mark.”