Isolationweek Report

Isolation week concluding report, 06.07.11

by Mima Cattan, Professor in Public Health, Northumbria University

‘Without a doubt the longest week of my life!’

Between the 20th and 26th June, the UK charity Friends of the Elderly ran a social experiment the ‘Isolation Week’ that saw ten volunteers aged 22 – 50 years experience social isolation as if they were themselves an isolated older person by being confined to their own homes for a whole week. During the week, they were not allowed any human contact and were only allowed to watch programmes on TV and on the Internet.
The participants also used special equipment such as gloves and vision-impairing glasses to let them experience the effects of physical ageing. Their experiences were recorded on video diaries, twitter, blogs and daily questionnaires. The final questionnaire gave them a chance to reflect back on what they had learnt from the whole experience.

Most of the volunteers had prepared themselves in some way for a week of isolation, something an older person obviously isn’t able to do as becoming isolated is usually as a result of a gradual chain of events, e.g. physical deterioration, bereavement or moving home. However, several participants admitted that the novelty of having all this time to themselves to read, watch films etc quickly wore off.

In less than a week, the majority of the participants started describing experiences and feelings similar to those described by housebound older people. They felt lethargic and tired, struggled to find motivation to do things or get out of bed, became ‘uncharacteristically’ emotional, weepy and lost concentration. The days seemed to drag on with nothing apart from the tasks to break up the monotony. Several participants mentioned feeling abandoned by friends and society. All mentioned boredom and some felt that this triggered further negative feelings, while others talked about the difficulties of combating boredom and the frustration and anger this often resulted in. They dealt with this giving themselves tasks, e.g. housework, cooking and doing the laundry. They read books, watched films, played computer games and wandered around their house/flat. One person even mentioned counting the tiles in their bathroom! A couple of people got drunk to try and numb the feelings of abandonment, but concluded that this did not solve the problem.

Between day 3 and 5 the lack of social contact seemed to become quite overpowering for some. They missed the brief spontaneous contacts, e.g. texts, chats and ordinary conversations: ‘not having anyone to say Good Morning to’, and they also missed someone who could comfort and reassure them when they didn’t feel well, and the physical warmth of a hug. Interestingly, missing having someone to have a laugh with was mentioned several times. Not being able to go outside (‘popping out’) when you want was a major frustration. One person said: ‘I didn’t realise how much popping out I do!’.

For one of the volunteers, Friday evening reminded them more than any other time of their isolation, as this was the evening they tended to socialise with their friends. The description was very similar to that of many housebound older people describing Sundays as the day they feel particularly lonely despite all days being the same.

Two of the volunteers seemed to cope better with the isolation than the other eight. Although they also experienced boredom and problems with motivation, they focused on what they were able to do rather than on what they had no control over. One used yoga and meditation to combat negative feelings and the other planned and prepared elaborate meals and used the time to enjoy hobbies and other activities that external pressures would normally not allow. A third volunteer also mentioned ‘getting on with an enjoyable task’ that they had not had time to do previously as a positive experience. However, all three admitted that they did not enjoy the prolonged isolation from human contact.

For everyone, the daily ‘empathy tasks’, although uncomfortable, were used to cope with boredom. The tasks gave them something to plan for, look forward to and to use up time. All volunteers admitted that as this social experiment was time limited, they could, towards the end of the week, look forward to returning to their normal lives, which they realised was not the case for isolated housebound older people. As individuals, they had learnt a great deal from the experience, about themselves and perhaps to some degree about the lives of isolated older people.

Their shocked responses to the final question about how they would react if they had to repeat the experience over three months with a monthly visit to a day centre and someone to do their shopping for them once a week were revealing. Not one of the volunteers was prepared to remain isolated for such a long time. One exclaimed: ‘We are not meant to be alone and lonely’. Others said they wouldn’t be able to cope, that they would feel abandoned, that they would go mad and that it would seriously impact on their mental health. ‘It would be like being in prison’!

It should be recognised that this social experiment could not mimic the true reality of socially isolated housebound older people with few resources and no ‘normal life’ to return to. However, the week did illustrate in the words of one of the volunteers ‘how easy and quick it is to become isolated and feel out of society’. It also demonstrated that most of us are social beings and that having human contact is essential for our well-being.

Mima Cattan
Professor in Public Health
Northumbria University