The Dangers of Solitary Confinement and How It Drove a Prisoner Crazy

Prison sucks. And a lot of people deserve to, maybe, be there. But with cruel and unusual punishments, like solitary confinement, when does the system become too much? There are plenty of people that think solitary confinement is a great way to punish prisoners as well as, keep dangerous individuals isolated from the masses.But for most, solitary confinement causes more problems than it solves. This is especially true in states where there are no laws on the amount of time a prisoner is allowed to stay in solitary. 

Anthony Gay - via BND

Here’s a tragic example: Anthony Gay spent 22 years in solitary confinement. 22 years. Now let me reiterate that solitary confinement includes a 6ft x 10 ft cell, with meals served through a slot, with forced idleness, and a bunk bed to keep the inmate entertained. Anthony Gay spent 22 years like this. Arrested at 19 under the accusation of beating up another teenager and stealing $1, Gay was officially sentenced.

via The Guardian

During his first few years in a minimum security prison, Gay got himself into a fistfight with another prisoner, resulting in an administrative migration to a more high-security property. Naturally, Gay got into a debacle again, and was greeted with his punishment of solitary confinement. Now, the really shitty part of this story is that every time Gay fought back against a guard, the prison would wait until his statute of limitations was almost up to try him for the next crime as a means to keep him longer. A justice system truly made for the people.  

By the time Gay was able to reach a lawyer, he had spent two decades alone. He was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder. For those of you who don’t know, that’s what makes a pscychopath. Gay would purposely mutilate himself so drastically that nurses were forced to come attend to him, just so he could get some sort of attention. He would even go so far as to remove one of his testicles and hang it outside his cell door. There are other examples, but I’ll save you the upset stomach. 

Some of you might be thinking that perhaps Gay came into prison as a psychopath and so he deserved to stay in solitary; but, it should be noted that as soon as his lawyers stepped in and got him back into general population,Gay was released in August. He lives happily with his aunt and uncle where he does minor repairs around the house. And he’s proud of that. 

via BND

So, is it safe to assume that being alone drives you crazy. Probably. In the ‘50s (when animal testing wasn’t controversial), Harry Harlow, a University of Wisconsin psychologist put monkeys alone in a box for two days. The monkeys realized they couldn’t get out and resolved to sitting in a corner and rocking back and forth. Harlow, next, put the monkeys alone for a year — they lost their minds. Some would just stare at a rock and not respond to anything, and others mutilated themselves. Sound familiar? 

A group of students at McGill University attempted the same study on humans, but no one could make it past a week. Many lost their sense of concentration and one man hallucinated so badly that all he could see were dogs. And that was just a week in isolation. Imagine 22 years. 

These studies were done in the ‘50s, yet the United States has only just started creating laws for juveniles regarding solitary confinement. There’s nothing for adults. Sure, some people deserve to be driven crazy in solitary, but others like Gay should never have been there in the first place. His story is a kickstarter to justice for prisoners because there’s a difference between a punishment and torture. 

cover via PBS

Disclaimer: I got my information from the Chicago Tribune and Frontline.