Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/566735
Health Help By Wendy Parker 18 // OWNER OPERATOR // SEPTEMBER 2015 STAY AWARE OF SOCIAL ISOLATION'S POTENTIAL DELETERIOUS EFFECTS S olitary confinement has been a method of punishment throughout history. Enforced loneliness is often viewed as a method of torture and has been shown to cause psychosis in animal experiments. While I'm not sure how we qualify rat psychosis these days, I do know when my trucker is out by himself for extended periods of time, he can act a little strange. According to psychology researcher John Cacioppo at the University of Chicago, 20 percent of all people are unhappy because of social isolation at any given moment. Social isolation differs from loneliness. Truckers ex- perience social isolation, because they have very little interaction with others in the regu- lar course of their daily jobs. Loneliness is an emotional state felt by people who are dissat- isfied with their social connections. Someone who is socially isolated often feels lonely, but lonely people aren't always socially isolated. There are many benefits to spending time alone. Freedom is considered to be one of the benefits of solitude. When you're alone, you don't have to worry about the constraints of others and can handle things in your own time frame and scope. If you feel like eating pan- cakes for dinner and wearing socks on your