How many days would you last in solitary confinement? How would you do it?

Joanne's FAVORITE answer:
Indefinitely! Are you kidding? I have four kids! Solitary confinement sounds awesome! Alone time to think and not hear, "Mom, Mom, Mom" over and over all day long - no problem!

Joanne's answer:
What an odd question. If I am in solitary confinement, it is certainly not of my own free will, which means its really not up to me how long I would "last". I mean, I would last until someone let me out...what is my alternative? But to ask it another way, how long would I last before I wanted to gauge my eyes out and wish for death? Well, we are all a lot more resilient than we think we are, so that's really hard to say...but I suspect I would not last nearly as long as some people. Even more than a couple of days is starting to sound unbearable. I remember once, in college, taking a bus ride (by myself) from Boston to upstate New York to visit my friend Isaac, and I remember thinking by the end of the trip, "OMG I haven't spoke to another person in like 8 hours" and thinking how I could hardly go on without talking to someone soon! But I digress....to finish answering the question...How would I do it? A lot of singing to myself would be involved...and surely talking to myself...and I'd sleep as much as possible...and maybe try to do some exercise, like push ups or something. If I could actually do a push up.

And the other answers!

SOLITARY CONFINEMENT!!!!!!!!!!! Yikes..............that would be like being in jail!!! Nope.......I LOVE people...........confinement is NOT for me!!!!!!

"Last" as in live? Or "last" as in be sane. I think I could be sane for maybe a week, but if they keep feeding me I could live for years. I guess that's why it sucks!!

Since I have never been in a true solitary confinement I couldn't begin to tell you how long I would "last" or what I'd do. It's a scary thing to think hard about. But I have been in a sort of solitary confinement and it lasted over six years. And what got me thru it was my faith. The Lord was with me the whole time and a great companion He is.

I could go till death. If you could pleasure yourself to death.

I would last until they let me out. What other choice would I have?

I could probably make it for a good chunk of time...im a simple creature and therefore pretty good at amusing myself,and im sadly really good at isolating, so im thinking it may be easy....as long as i have some books or my ipod, im good to go....

Solitary confinement - never happen!!!! (who would I talk to) (better yet - who would listen)????

I could do without people (and the talking that comes with the people) for a good two weeks before the absence of people (and the physical contact that comes with the people) would start to cause me real concern. Severe distress would probably set in at a month or two. How would I cope? I think I would do a lot of sleeping. As someone who has had exactly one good nights sleep in the last seven or eight months, I might not even notice the time passing for the first week or so as I caught up on sleep. If I had pen and paper in this solitary confinement, I would spend my time working on the creative writing projects I never have the time or the brain space for. I would meditate. I would sing. Wait...where can I get my hands on some of this solitary confinement that you speak of?

None. I would have bounced off the walls too many times that even the prison system would want to let me out.

Days? I would say indefinately.Being alone is a learned skill, and unfortunately I was conditioned at a young age for solitude.So much so that I NEED solitary time now and then or I start getting anxious and get in a general bad mood.

That would have to be zero days! I like to read, email, watch TV, and talk way too much! I could maybe last a half a day or so. And, the only way I'd survive that would be to sleep the whole time.

I could last forever in there, as I am a very solitary person. Also, my mind is a beautiful place to escape to. Sometimes OCD has it's advantages.

I would probably do very well in solitary confinement. Deep down I do think I'm my own best company, I'm funnier than anyone else and everyone else is stupid. I wouldn't fair too well once released because, I've put myself in solitary confinement before and could barely open the door without blowing away the pizza guy.

I could last in solitary confinement pretty long with a stack of good books. With 50 books, I could probably last 50 to 100 days...

Solitary confinement, um...I could prob last awhile. Just give me a bunch of books or even my steno machine! I don't altogether mind being alone, but I will prob get claustrophobic at some point.

I already work in a cubicle. Same diff.