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isolation.13 Some may experience forms of isolation panic only after a few
hours of solitary confinement, others may be totally unaffected by the lack
of human contacts even after a long period of time. For this reason, the
time limit of 15 days that defines prolonged solitary confinement can be
considered arbitrary, in fact some people might break down earlier, while
others even later.14 The long term risk is gradual damage resulting in social
death. This means that after being out of solitary confinement, detainees
may continue to behave like in solitary confinement and suffer from
‘sociophobia’ because they lose the ability to interact with other human
beings. This is the opposite of what prison systems have to achieve, which
is the inclusion of detainees in the society, and their resocialization.15
Studies indicate that the risk of subjecting a detainee to a certain
degree of suffering is always present during solitary confinement and
have identified a form of isolation syndrome that can manifest itself
through one or more symptoms. The following are the effects of
solitary confinement that can be noticed16: sleep disturbance, appetite
disturbance, anxiety, panic, rage, loss of control, paranoia, hallucination,
and self-mutilation etc. The following are the psychiatric symptoms
of solitary confinement that detainees reported when they were
asked: negative attitudes, negative affect, insomnia, anxiety, panic,
withdrawal, hypersensitivity, ruminations, cognitive dysfunction, loss of
control, irritability, aggression, rage, paranoia, hopelessness, lethargy,
depression, sense of impending emotional breakdown, self-mutilation,
suicidal ideation and behaviour.
Isolated detainees are also subjected to higher levels of stress, and are
13. Grassian, S., Psychopathological effects of solitary confinement, American Journal of Psychiatry, 1983, Vol.
140, No. 11, pp. 1453-1454.
Smith, P. S., Solitary confinement. An introduction to The Istanbul Statement on the Use and Effects of Solitary
Confinement, Torture: quarterly journal on rehabilitation of torture victims and prevention of torture, 2008,
Vol.18(1), p. 61;
Haney, C., Mental Health Issues in Long-Term Solitary and ‘Supermax’ Confinement, Crime and Delinquency,
2003, Vol. 49, No. 1, p.132;
14. Haney, C., Solitary Confinement, Loneliness, and Psychological Harm in Lobel, J. and Smith, P. S.,
“Solitary Confinement. Effects, Practices”, Oxford University Press, 2019, (ebook).
Mendez, J. E., Torture, Solitary Confinement, and International Law, in Lobel, J. and Smith, P. S., “Solitary Confinement. Effects, Practices”, Oxford University Press, 2019, (ebook).
15. Haney, C., Solitary Confinement, Loneliness, and Psychological Harm in Lobel, J. and Smith, P. S., “Solitary Confinement. Effects, Practices”, Oxford University Press, 2019, (ebook)
16. Haney, C., Mental Health Issues in Long-Term Solitary and ‘Supermax’ Confinement, Crime and Delinquency, 2003, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp.130-131;
Monitoring Solitary Confinement in Prison
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