Rob WaughPublished Aug 29, 2017, 4:11pm|Updated Aug 29, 2017, 4:14pm
A shocking TV experiment has shown how quickly solitary confinement can seriously affect people’s brains – with hallucinations kicking in after 72 hours.
The experiment, for Channel 5’s show In Solitary, had a single mum locked in a Portakabin for five days – who said, initially, that she hoped for some ‘alone time’.
But just three days into the challenge, she began vomiting – and then seeing things.
She ended up talking to her own hands – and shockingly, she was the only one out of three contestands who actually completed the challenge.
A series of shocking to-camera moments showed how the solitary confinement was affecting her.
At one point, she says, ‘I’m just gonna give in now to the quiet nothingness. I’m just gonna go there. I’m slipping away.’
The effects of solitary confinement
In the UK, there are around 1,500 cells for prisoners in ‘segregation’ – or solitary – while in America, solitary confinement is much more widely used, with 80,000 prisoners locked up alone.
The psychological effects of solitary confinement are well-documented – and terrifying.
Just 15 days locked up in solitary can be enough to cause permanent psychological damage – with effects ranging from anxiety to paranoia to inability to form coherent thoughts.
The effects are even worse when inmates in solitary are already mentally ill.
In 2011, experts from the UN called for the practice of prolonged sentences in solitary to be banned – saying that it amounted to torture.
‘Solitary confinement is a harsh measure which is contrary to rehabilitation, the aim of the penitentiary system,’ said the UN’s Juan E. Méndez.
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