Humans are by nature gregarious and like to mix, socialize, talk, and belong. But the Covid-19 pandemic created the need for social isolation and social distancing. And hell broke loose for many. Disorders of mentation increased and the consultation with psychotherapists and suicide help lines increased drastically. What exactly happens to a person in isolation?
Experiments of self-isolation
In the past, many scientists tried to study the impact of prolonged isolation on human brain. In 1964, Josie Laures and Antoine Senni isolated in two caves located in French Alps for months. 126 days passed by but Antoine taught that only 2 months have elapsed. In 1972, Michel Siffre repeated this stunt. Michel revealed:
“Physically it was not tiring, but mentally it was hell,”
An experiment of isolation on graduate students of McGill University showed that the students jad hallucinations with restlessness and had mental deterioration in cognition. It was also extreme in one person who felt that he was simultaneously present at two places but was unable to decide which one was the 'real him'.
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| Social isolation (Source: APA) |
Coronavirus infection and the skin rashes-Read hereLoneliness and health
Extreme isolation is rare. Studies have revealed that those who are lonely have 50% lesser chances of survival. Besides, lonely people are prone to heart ailments, depression, and inflammation. Thus not only the life span but quality of life of socially isolated individuals also suffer.
But though we know that poor health is associated with loneliness, the exact mechanism was unclear. But recently researcher Gillian Matthews from Imperial College London accidentally found that isolation affects the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) and its neural connections. Gillian said:
“Taking that idea suggests that there are mechanisms in place to help maintain social contact in the same way that there are mechanisms in place to make sure we maintain our food intake or our water intake,”
“Without the full level of social contact, survival reduces in numerous species,”
Thus there are regions in the brain that crave for social contact and not having it affects them. When social contact is resumed, these areas that are rich in dopamine neurons get excited. MIT neuroscientist, Livia Tomova states:
“The idea of the cravings is that the goal should be to seek out others and reinstate social contact.”
“If you are in a state of prolonged stress, the same adaptations that are in the first place healthy and necessary, will actually become detrimental because they’re not designed to be long-term states,”
Thus social connections are protective for humans. NHS has realized that loneliness is bad and has put up a loneliness strategy to counteract it by starting social clubs. But how much and what kind of social contact is enough to overcome it is not certain. Besides, one is not clear about how and to what magnitude does loneliness affect young minds. Are social media platforms enough? Livia says:
“It could also be that most people are fine, because maybe social media does fulfill our social needs really well.”
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