To many of us, the concept of solitary confinement may not sound all that bad: finally, a reprieve from the siege of social and professional requests. Finally, a chance to catch up on all the reading we’ve been meaning to do. Finally, an environment conducive to this meditation thing about whose benefits we’ve heard so much. (Perhaps we made those very assurances to ourselves when the COVID-19 pandemic set in.) But according to the animated TED-Ed lesson above, written by psychiatrist and correctional mental health expert Terry Kupers, the negatives of the experience would well outweigh the positives. It all comes by way of answering the question, “What happens to your brain without any social contact?”
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, isolation takes its greatest toll when imposed against the will of the isolated, and even more so when imposed for an indefinite duration. “Early on, stress hormones may spike, and as time passes, that stress can become chronic,” says the video’s narrator.
Without the availability of social interactions as “a sounding board where we can gauge how rational our perceptions are,” one’s “sense of identity and reality becomes threatened.” The stage is therefore set for “depression, obsessions, suicidal ideation, and, for some, delusions and hallucinations.” Sleeping difficulties can manifest on the more strictly physical end, potentially accompanied by “heart palpitations, headaches, dizziness, and hypersensitivity.”
While traveling in the United States, Charles Dickens bore witness to the punishment by solitary confinement already in effect in American prisons, coming away with the impression that it was “worse than any torture of the body.” He wrote that after a visit to a Philadelphia penitentiary, whose very name reflects the theory, held by the Quaker groups who introduced the practice in the late eighteenth century, that it could “bring about reflection and penitence.” After much research on the matter, Kupers has come to the conclusion that, in fact, it “does immense damage that is contrary to rehabilitation, while failing to reduce prison violence.” If you’re reading this, you may not be especially likely to be sentenced to involuntary confinement. But the next time you start feeling out of sorts for reasons you can’t pin down, consider how long it’s been since you’ve spent real time with real people.
Related content:
What Happens When You Spend Weeks, Months, or Years in Solitary Confinement
How Loneliness Is Killing Us: A Primer from Harvard Psychiatrist & Zen Priest Robert Waldinger
Modern Art Was Used As a Torture Technique in Prison Cells During the Spanish Civil War
What an 85-Year-Long Harvard Study Says Is the Real Key to Happiness
On the Power of Teaching Philosophy in Prisons
Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. His projects include the Substack newsletter Books on Cities and the book The Stateless City: a Walk through 21st-Century Los Angeles. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter at @colinmarshall.
Misleading and gaslighting, Sure it can have these impacts over time but it’s not a guarantee or the place everyone ends up given the same duration in isolation. These ppl out here are writing emotional projects and calling it something it isn’t and reaching for broad conclusions is my comment.
I agree with this 100%
After losing my job 2 years ago, I sank into depression. Lost my insurance, and couldn’t address depression issues, lost my meds…anxiety kicked in.…then panic disorder. I leave my house once a week to get groceries and household items. Also, im going through perimenopause so ive got the outrageous hormonal fluctuations to boot. Last week, I had three severe panic attacks. I suffer with disassociation now too. I also have c‑ptsd from a previous trauma. In so grateful to have a husband who supports me and makes me feel safe and Im hopeful I will get out of this mental health situation soon.
The “emotional project” is based off solid info from an expert who is cited in the article and video: Terry Kupers. Its not just made up by the article authors.
If you’ve got some specific hard proof (random blog posts and “cuz’ I say so” aren’t it BTW) that what he is saying is either factually incorrect or only effects a tiny minority then you should post it.
As is it sure comes off as if you’re just making stuff up and being rude.
Personally, for me being alone is a very different and mostly positive experience, so I think it’s important to keep in mind that this article doesn’t apply to everyone. I find being alone very peaceful! I think I enjoy it partly because I know it’s voluntary; I’ve always been welcomed into social groups, I just generally don’t like them. I listen well to people and feel empathy for them, but I start to get bored around most folks fairly easily. When I’m alone I can use my time to focus on things that interest me instead, such as creative pursuits and learning more on new subjects. I had two years of voluntary unemployment and spent most of it alone. I would have loved to have friends to go out with (I’d recently moved and didn’t know anyone local), but it didn’t seem worth the effort to go out to try to meet people. Occasionally I did feel lonely, and I see how really isolated people can go somewhat ‘stir crazy’, but I was fortunate enough to have friends to talk with by phone a few times a week, and overall I really enjoyed my two solo years.
Love thyself. Can’t love others without loving oneself first
I’ve experienced being alone for many years,it doesn’t feel good. At times I feel alright being alone; at times, I need time to think things over or read or write or even watch TV. Finding friends hasn’t been easy for me. Finding a friend that has things in common that I do is a difficult thing or should I say challenging. Exploring things that I find interesting in this world is a challenge in itself. So I will continue the exploration with a few friends that I KEEP VISITING ON OCCASIONS.
Aaron, I do not see any misleading or gaslighting in this article. I read it as a general description of the effects of social isolation. It did not specify quality or quantity of the individuals response, or the duration and intensity of the isolation. Any sailor who has been at sea for a few months with a limited variety of human interactions and limited space is likely to feel a strange sense of disconnection when they return to home port and their family.
I find that being alone can sometimes be sad but I also find i’m learning about myself. Having never been alone before it was hard at first and takes time to adjust. I can do anything I want everyday so that is satisfying. My sons visit every time I ask them to come over which is comforting.I visit with my neighbors quite often and other friends. I always seem to be busy doing something. So life is good!
I have been told that if a person needs someone to be happy that person must be miserable. We need to like ourselves by developing varied interests, curiosity or being socially engaging. As they say being alone is fine but being lonely is not, and good news is that it is by choice.
People develop depression for many reasons, even when not lonely. Many times, very socially engaging and rich people have been in news for being very depressed.
I must say that expressing a pervasive is difficult. If this animation was created by a United States trained Psychiatric it is displaying advice of an unqualified person, which can be harmful.
I’m an intrepid patriot who’s a proud American. United States of America is the greatest country in the world; leader of the free world. As obvious from historical abstraction to get this place in the US had to sacrifice its health care system. We used to have one but its been gone a while.
Comparing solitary confinement in prison to simply self isolating by your own free will is the problem here. If you have your freedoms taken from you and any sort of comfort and all you are left with is the ability to socialize with other inmates, then you lose that as well, and get stuffed into a tiny cell with no TV, no internet, no entertainment except the censored prison library, and have absolutely no contact with any other human beings, then yes, it’s going to have profoundly terrible effects on your body and mind.
But if you simply stop hanging out with people in the regular world because you prefer it over socializing, but you still have contact and conversations with people at work, and whenever you feel like going out, then no it’s not going to have these effects.
The article is misleading in the way it summarizes the research done by Terry Kupers, like it somehow applies to willfully cutting out your social interactions when it’s about solitary confinement in prison. Two completely different scenarios. The research does not apply to those outside of prison.
I failed to have friends or walking friends although I tried hard to get out of isolation. people are just scared of each other. I live in Oregon if it matters and my neighbors just behind closed doors happy complaining about loneliness.
I think there might be a misleading difference in how being alone affects extroverts vs introverts. I retired several years ago (I was a manager for a property management company, in charge of a staff of 28 people in 4 departments) and have found my solitary years to be a relief. I love to read, I write; I am an enthusiastic painter (acrylic, water-soluble oils, and watercolour) and I also enjoy a few different computer games. I do not have a cellphone or TV (by choice) but watch clippings of news on YouTube and do Sudoku puzzles at the same time, which I have learned helps me process what is going on in the world without getting stressed. I have always been very independent and although I enjoy going out for groceries and appointments (usually once a week or every 10 days), I don’t miss socializing at all. I felt depression a few times when I was working because it really mattered to me that I was doing the very best I was capable of and sometimes I felt I had failed. (Especially any time I had to fire someone from their job.) Free of all of that, I have not felt depressed once and nor do I ever feel lonely. As the old saying goes: “My real home is wherever I am at,” and I’m sure there is also one that says, “I am my own best friend and companion.”
As someone involved in teaching communication skills and strategies to the hard of hearing, I find this interesting and persuasive. Many people with hearing loss, especially the elderly, isolate because communication is so difficult and frustrating. So it’s voluntary, but not really. It appears to have strong links to depression and even dementia.
Hello, your behavior does not seem to originate from isolation. You are experiencing this disorder because you lost your job and are worried you may not be able to get another.
It doesn’t bother me! I like being by myself. A book called “Loner” explains it all. Considering how mankind has degenerated, being alone has its benefits!
I believe it could be age related. As a young woman just out of high school, and having grown up in a really big family, I could not bear the thought of being out there alone and on my own.
I was able to overcome that feeling over time — years I believe — and now in my older years I can say that I enjoy the time I have on my own and also having privacy — which was not a given growing up around lots of people and at the same time still lonely at times.
In all reality, it is time that changes our perception of what being alone or loneliness means.
I’ve also read about people who experienced spiritual ecstasy in being hermits for long periods of time. I think being alone means not concerning oneself with social climbing, being “normal”, competing or trying to impress others, and instead a person can be themselves without judgment. There was a quote by a former long-term hermit that said something similar.
I agree with Irma that it may be age-related. In my younger age I wanted so much to merge with others. Now I have experienced what connection with others feels like. Most of the arguments people have are tiring and I don’t trust people easily, and being alone is when I can really relax where other times I felt afraid or like a failure for doing things alone.
Since the pandemic, solitude has increased for a lot of people, and I think a fair amount prefer it or people would figure out how to interact with each other in some way.
(I do notice a lot of solitary people experience other people secondhand: TV, radio, music, reading books about people, etc and I think for some people this is a safe way to interact with people.)
First of all the title is very misleading. You can’t compare forced isolation and chosen isolation. Society is always throwing around what is healthy and what is not. If we aren’t conforming to what is “normal” then we are sick, broken, depressed or whatever label you want to put on it. Do you know what happens when I socialize? I feel drained for days afterwards. It isn’t just tired. I feel like I am a battery and all my energy was drained from me. The annoying ignorance of the masses for small talk is deplorable. Who the hell cares where you work or how the weather is. I can’t talk about what I really want to talk about either because people look at you with this glazed over look in their eyes. Yes, maybe I am strange for wanting to talk about black holes or other dimensions. I mean we can even talk about physics or quant mechanics. Oh what? Umm yeah sure the weather is great 👍
Don’t listen to this person who hopefully did not waste time going to college to write this nonsense that has been written and re written so many times. I mean at least make up new nonsense so it is entertaining.
I thought journalism was dying because of the internet, but maybe it is just that people aren’t intelligent enough to come up with their own stories.
the best thing in my life is my isolation from all the idiots
I hear you that it sounds reductive and oversimplified out of context–but it’s important to know that this is a research summary, and there is a mountain of data behind it. These authors didn’t write an emotional project, they wrote a report of many of them, comprised of actual data, which they summarized. I doubt their intention is to negate people who outlie the trend.
This particular finding–that depth (not breadth) of social connections is the best predictor for happiness–is corroborated by one of the most famous and ambitious studies of this sort, by Harvard spanning 85 years. Of course like all studies it is flawed (for example it was I think all white Harvard students), though the finding this article focuses on is corroborated by many smaller and broader studies, so it’s safe to say it’s not isolated (pun not intended).
In your defense, this particular report does sound a little reductive and oversimplified if you don’t know that context, as it is a very short stub summarizing not just one study but a whole body of research. Perhaps you’d find more affirmation of your unique experience by clicking the “related article” links above, which are sure to give more details, like what exceptions there may have been to the pattern.
And if there’s not, perhaps your case would be a good one to study to diversify the available data! Thank goodness science is a public community, not a private entity. It’s meant to represent as close to everyone as possible, so if you feel left out, speak up!
Yes! Chosen Isolation is very different. I became partially disabled a few years ago and as a result, the social activities I can participate in became significantly reduced. I was already an introvert and worked alone most of the day to my own contentment, but my added disability forced me to cross what once felt like a healthy line of balanced interaction. I now live what feels very much like a type of forced isolation and I have learned that I have to make extra efforts to reach out to others simply to avoid depression. There is a chance that my condition can be improved with additional surgery which I will find out about after my next MRI which is scheduled for next week, and I can barely wait. Just to have the option to CHOOSE to be alone like I did in the past would feel like a huge blessing to me.
In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion; in order to serve men better, one has to hold them at a distance for a time. But where can one find the solitude necessary to vigor, the deep breath in which the mind collects itself and courage gauges its strength?” –Albert Camus
In short, you need a balance of doing and being. In the modern world, there is too much emphasis on the doing, not enough on the being. Spending time alone is about being. It’s about being you, free from external demands and expectations, free from the sensation of restlessness, free from even your own ego. So, stop and small the roses.
Prisoners in solitary confinement is different from what’s suggested in the article title.
In the end, it depends on how you use the social isolation. If you use it to pursue your deepest hobbies, interests, and pursuit of truth of how the world operates, then you won’t likely be so bad off. I admit education can be a factor here. If you’re raised to respect the rigorous critical thinking and consume “High-IQ” content by recognized scholars in the various fields, then that has less damaging impact on your sanity.
More important, gain knowedge of not just knowing something is true, but HOW we know something is true. This is especially important in this disinformation age.
“Unsurprisingly, perhaps, isolation takes its greatest toll when imposed against the will of the isolated” ok, so the conclusions of the article which all are going to be based on the assumption that it IS against my will, don’t apply to me then. It’s like when a deeply religious person tries to compel me to do something, and prefaces it with “do you believe in god”. I say “no”, and they don’t even know how to proceed except to insult me, they were relying on working from me saying “yes” as a starting point to coerce me and it derailed their only strategy.
I don’t want to make contact with anyone, because everyone is my enemy. It’s like when I learned the more specific lesson, of not desiring approval or companionship with women. Once I learned that they all have deep contempt and hatred for men, it completely killed any sexual intrigue, any desire for friendship, approval from them, any desire to even talk to them, and indeed any sympathy I might have for them. The feeling is now mutual as it should be. Show no mercy, for you shall receive none. And I’m sure that any that read this will try to call me an incel or shame me in some other similar way they consider to be the gravest of insults, to gaslight me or anyone this resonates with, to try to paint me as broken and promote the idea that my thoughts and opinions are therefore invalid, because that’s their reaction to men who don’t conform with their image of what a man should be, who doesn’t worship the ground beneath their feet. And to you, I don’t care what you think. But once I learned that lesson, that freed me, I realized I had been operating from an intrinsic gynocentric bias my whole life until then, and that with it gone I was seeing things as they actually were. It left me bewildered why I was ever even trying to connect with them in any way in the first place, how silly that was even as a goal. And then I realized the same was true of other men, I shouldn’t seek their approval or friendship either, because the only difference in how they see me is that instead of contempt, they have indifference. I’m at best a resource to use.
For me, I have social anxiety so being alone is much more calming than being around others. When I’m with other people, I feel like I’m being judged due to my inability to be very social with them. It is difficult for me to make small talk as I don’t have much to say due to leading a very boring existence (to others); however I am quite content with my life while I don’t have to pretend to be something that I am not when around others. That is exhausting for me and I prefer to be genuine. The genuine me is not what other people enjoy so I have come to realize that my life alone is okay.
Do you live in a red state with trump morons??
Right on! I often find socialising painful. I didn’t read the article but I think the kind of social contact that is good is the kind where you can talk about black holes or other dimensions. Like with family members or close friends.
Also, establishment journalism is dying because there are more honest independent people who do it online, for free.
That was meant to be a reply to Jason by the way.
Church attendance can help at a range of levels.
No thanks. Considering the fact most people these days are absolute idiots I’m happier on my own without social nonsense, and have been so since about 2019 now.
Are you an expert? Have you spoken to people who have endured it? What experience do you have on the matter? I have dealt with it myself and seen it in other and I think you have no right to say this.
Degenerated? How so?
Explains your wonderful attitude.
And the best thing is you keep to yourself away from pleasent people
I have been living alone in the desert for several years. Its not bad once you get used to it. You open up a new world that you did know existed before solitude.
Food for thought. Of course, it is all about balance and choise. Too much of anything is bad, as is too little. Since my husbands death two years ago I have been thrust into a world where I am alone a lot of the time. I am lucky that I can enjoy my own company, and a lot of the things I do can be done alone. Of course, having bereavement added to the situation is not a good way to judge the positive and negative aspects to isolation. We like to be around people, but it is not a good thing to become dependent on that.
Charles Dickens himself got so fed up of being mythered all the time that he bought a small villa where he could isolate himself and work. personally I like isolation and find, like boredom, that its a state of mind that an active mind can cope with.
A bit like the character Andy Dufresne in Shawshank!