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17

Isolation--The Ultimate Poison

Remove the sponge cell from the sponge, prevent it from finding

its way back to its brethren, and it dies.  Scrape a liver cell from the

liver and in its isolation it too will shrivel and give up life.  But what

happens if you remove a human from his social bonds, wrenching him

from the superorganism of which he or she is a part?

In the 1940's, the psychologist Rene Spitz studied human babies

isolated from their mothers.  These were the infants of women too poor

to care for their children, infants who had been placed permanently in

a foundling home.  There, the children were kept in what Spitz called

"solitary confinement,"  placed in cribs with sheets hung from the sides

so that the only thing the babies could see was the ceiling.  Nurses

seldom looked in on them more than a few times a day.  And even

when feeding time came, the babies were left alone with just the

companionship of a bottle.  Hygiene in the homes was impeccable.  But

without being held, loved, and woven into the fabric of a social web,

the resistance of these babies was lowered.  Thirty four out of 91 died.

In other foundling homes, the death rate was even higher.  In some, it

climbed to a devastating 90%.40  A host of other studies have shown the

same thing.  Babies can be given food, shelter, warmth and hygiene.

But if they are not held and stroked, they have an abnormal tendency

to die.

Two means have been discovered to produce depression in

laboratory animals: uncontrollable punishment and isolation.  Put an

animal in a cage by himself, separated from his nestmates, and he will

lose interest in food and sex, have trouble sleeping, and undergo a

muddling of the brain.41

Tampering with bonds to the larger social organism can have

powerful consequences.42  In humans, feeling you're unwanted can

stunt your growth.  The flow of growth hormones, according to recent

research, is affected strongly by "psychosocial factors."  Monkeys  taken

17

Isolation--The Ultimate Poison

Remove the sponge cell from the sponge, prevent it from finding

its way back to its brethren, and it dies.  Scrape a liver cell from the

liver and in its isolation it too will shrivel and give up life.  But what

happens if you remove a human from his social bonds, wrenching him

from the superorganism of which he or she is a part?

In the 1940's, the psychologist Rene Spitz studied human babies

isolated from their mothers.  These were the infants of women too poor

to care for their children, infants who had been placed permanently in

a foundling home.  There, the children were kept in what Spitz called

"solitary confinement,"  placed in cribs with sheets hung from the sides

so that the only thing the babies could see was the ceiling.  Nurses

seldom looked in on them more than a few times a day.  And even

when feeding time came, the babies were left alone with just the

companionship of a bottle.  Hygiene in the homes was impeccable.  But

without being held, loved, and woven into the fabric of a social web,

the resistance of these babies was lowered.  Thirty four out of 91 died.

In other foundling homes, the death rate was even higher.  In some, it

climbed to a devastating 90%.40  A host of other studies have shown the

same thing.  Babies can be given food, shelter, warmth and hygiene.

But if they are not held and stroked, they have an abnormal tendency

to die.

Two means have been discovered to produce depression in

laboratory animals: uncontrollable punishment and isolation.  Put an

animal in a cage by himself, separated from his nestmates, and he will

lose interest in food and sex, have trouble sleeping, and undergo a

muddling of the brain.41

Tampering with bonds to the larger social organism can have

powerful consequences.42  In humans, feeling you're unwanted can

stunt your growth.  The flow of growth hormones, according to recent

research, is affected strongly by "psychosocial factors."  Monkeys  taken