What happens to your brain without any social contact?

Everyone needs time to themselves,

and peaceful solitude has stress-relieving benefits.

But being alone takes on an entirely different dimension

when it creeps up or is forced upon you.

When someone is involuntarily confined

to one space indefinitely for days, weeks, months,

or even years—alone and without productive tasks,

their body will likely undergo numerous extensive changes.

The Impact on the Brain

Early on, stress hormones may spike, and as time passes,

that stress can become chronic.

Social interactions and meaningful activities

are essential for emotional stability.

This may be because they provide us with what researchers call

“social reality testing,”

a sort of sounding board where we can gauge how rational

our perceptions are.

When someone is deprived of communication and tasks,

their sense of identity and reality becomes threatened.

Their thoughts spiral, and their impulses take the reins,

setting the stage for:

• Depression and obsessions
• Suicidal ideation
• Delusions and hallucinations

Over time, this prolonged agitation

can cause the brain’s limbic system,

which regulates fear and stress, to become especially responsive

and hyperactive.

Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex—the brain’s hub for reasoning

and moral judgment—may shrink,

impairing focus, memory, and cognition.

Overall, the balance shifts from rational thinking towards emotionality.

As someone remains in this state,

the imbalance becomes ingrained,

making them more prone to bouts of anxiety, rage,

and irrational actions.

The Physical Toll

Isolation will also affect other parts of a person’s health.

They may lose their sense of time and have difficulties sleeping.

They are more likely to experience:

• Heart palpitations
• Headaches and dizziness
• Hypersensitivity
• Weight loss due to stress-induced digestive issues and poor appetite

One can attempt to cope by establishing

the healthiest routine possible under the extreme circumstances,

including robust exercise, reading, and writing.

But that can only do so much.

The History of Solitary Confinement

The United Nations, many human rights organizations,

and experts classify this kind of forced, prolonged isolation as torture.

Yet, it’s something imprisoned people in many countries endure.

Also called solitary confinement or restrictive housing,

the practice is most common in the United States.

In 2019, more than 120,000 US prisoners lived in solitary confinement,

spending 22 to 24 hours a day in mostly windowless

cells spanning roughly 6×9 feet.

Quaker groups introduced solitary confinement to US prisons

in the late 1700s as an alternative to corporal punishment,

believing it could bring about reflection and penitence.

But the practice quickly faced criticism from public figures

all the way to the Supreme Court.

Charles Dickens, for one, condemned solitary confinement

as worse than any torture of the body.

Its use dwindled until the 1980s when,

alongside more punitive “tough on crime” laws,

US prison populations skyrocketed.

As prisons grew crowded, incidents of protests, rebellions,

and violence grew, and prison authorities increasingly

used solitary confinement to maintain control.

Many people have been placed

in solitary confinement for minor,

nonviolent infractions like talking back to prison guards.

Lasting Trauma and Reform

Solitary confinement is harmful to everyone,

but many who have experienced it have pre-existing

mental health disorders, which it only exacerbates.

It also seems to have lasting effects that make readjusting

to life outside of a cell difficult.

People who have gone through solitary confinement

are three times more likely to show signs

of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

They commonly report:

• Shifts in their personalities
• Increased anxiety and paranoia in otherwise ordinary situations
• Difficulty concentrating and connecting with others

Some states have restricted the use of solitary confinement

in cases involving serious mental illness, children, or pregnancy,

and some have adopted 15- or 20-day limits for everyone.

But laws that regulate solitary confinement aren’t always enforced,

and prison authorities have created loopholes.

Yet solitary confinement does immense damage

that is contrary to rehabilitation

while failing to reduce prison violence.

Meanwhile, other countries have centered

on more humane approaches.

Norway, for example, imprisons far fewer people

per capita than the US while spending five times

more per prisoner on accommodations, classes,

and work release programs.

Norway also sees far fewer people return to prison after release,

with one of the world’s lowest rates of recidivism—indicating

we tend to get better together.