Why I could never live in solitary confinement.

Question 4: I read this question before even reading A General Theory of Love and began thinking about what it would be like to be in solitary confinement. I could not even imagine experiencing such a horror. Humans thrive off of contact with other humans; that is a fact. Save hermits, people need to have everyday interactions, whether it be with the cashier at the local WaWa or an intimate session with one's significant other. Of course I can not provide adequate reasoning for this except for the fact that I know that I need to be with other people or I would go crazy. Well, at least I couldn't provide any reason for this before reading A General Theory of Love . Starting on page 76, the authors begin to explain the "Anatomy of Love", which explains the steps of separation. They use the example of a puppy taken away from its mother and state that with this example you can "witness the universal mammalian reaction to the rupture of an attachment bond." Apparently the subject first goes through a stage called protest in which they experience both behavioral and physiological changes. While heart rate and body temp. both increase, so do the adrenaline levels and the levels of alertness. In addition, the levels of cortisol, the body's main stress hormone, increase about sixfold within 30 minutes of isolation. The individual also paces back and forth and goes through a period of heightened senses. After this protest phase comes despair, which comes with prolonged isolation. The individual becomes lethargic and "curls up into a despondent lump." Poor posture and sad facial expressions go along with this. Physiologically, the body's sleeping habits change with less REM sleep (dreams) and the individual will wake up more during the night. The amount of growth hormone dwindles and oxygen consumption and heart rate both decrease. Apparently, this loss of companionship can often lead to death or medical illness.
Evidently, this slow process of isolation can be attributed to the limbic brain that humans and other mammals possess. This sort of slow, tortures process that accompanies one being separated from all of society seems to be many times worse than any other type of torture that I could even imagine. Even a "slow" torture would be over with faster than all of this. I think if I was subjected to isolation in prison, it would drive me to madness. To mess with the mind in such a way is certainly a cruel and extreme form of punishment, something that I would consider to be much worse than physical abuse. This type of punishment not only leads to the terrible mind deterioration that one would probably associate with isolation, but it results in physical deterioration as well, something that I did not know was associated with confinement. I could not imagine a worse scenario to be put in than to be placed all alone, with only my own thoughts to accompany me. After reading this, I definitely know that I would rather be sentenced to die than to live by myself for the rest of my life.