Every time I type the title to one of these posts, I like to imagine I’m a marooned sailor on a lonely island. I know I’ve used that analogy before, but it is one I enjoy and return to frequently. I think I would handle being marooned well. I think I would handle solitary confinement well. I’ve done a lot of research on prisons over the years and the intellectual side of me is well aware that solitary confinement is a form of torture. Prolonged exposure can lead to a whole of host of psychological problems including paranoia, schizophrenia, not to mention anxiety and depression. And I do believe the experts who wrote those papers. But there is an egotistical side to me, that thinks it wouldn’t be so bad. It’s the same side that thinks I could fight a wolf and live. I think I would be fine in solitaire. Certainly for a while. And I’m talking extreme solitaire –no yard time, no guard contact, no showers. If it were ‘nice’ solitaire, if they let me have paper and a pen, or a typewriter, I could stay in there for years. I think. It’s probably just ego.
If someone were to lock you in a room, would you feel safe or would you feel trapped? I would feel safe, until the person came back. Alone in a empty room –there is nothing to hurt me except me. And I’m used to dealing with me.