In the fall, I did a little research, which Vera Ryklina’s article about loneliness reminded me of last week. I present the results to the readers.
My working hypothesis was this: modern children are entertained too much, as a result they do not know how to occupy themselves, avoid meeting with themselves, from which, in turn, they are completely unaware of their inner world and even afraid .
Under the terms of the experiment, the participant agreed to spend eight hours (continuously) alone, by himself, without using any means of communication (telephone, Internet), not including a computer or other gadgets, as well as radio and TV. All other human activities — playing, reading, writing, crafts, drawing, modeling, singing, playing music, walking, etc. — were allowed.
During the experiment, participants could optionally make notes about their state, actions, and thoughts that came to mind.
Strictly the next day after the experiment, they were supposed to come to my office and tell me how everything went.
If there was a strong tension or other disturbing symptoms, the experiment should be immediately stopped and the time and, if possible, the reason for its termination should be recorded.
My experiment involved mainly teenagers who come to my clinic. Their parents were warned and agreed to provide their children with eight hours of solitude.
The whole thing seemed perfectly safe to me. I admit: I was wrong.
The experiment involved 68 adolescents aged 12 to 18: 31 boys and 37 girls. They brought the experiment to the end (that is, they spent eight hours alone with themselves) THREE teenagers: two boys and a girl.
Seven survived five (or more) hours. The rest are less.
The teenagers explained the reasons for interrupting the experiment in a very monotonous way: “I couldn’t take it anymore”, “It seemed to me that I was about to explode”, “My head will burst.”
Twenty girls and seven boys had direct vegetative symptoms: hot flashes or chills, dizziness, nausea, sweating, dry mouth, tremor of the hands or lips, pain in the abdomen or chest, a sensation of “moving” the hair on the head.
Almost everyone experienced anxiety, fear, which in five reached almost the severity of a “panic attack”.
Three had suicidal thoughts.
The novelty of the situation, interest and joy from meeting with oneself disappeared for almost everyone by the beginning of the second or third hour. Only ten of the people who interrupted the experiment felt anxiety after three (or more) hours of solitude.
The heroic girl who brought the experiment to the end brought me a diary in which she described her condition in detail for eight hours. At this point, my hair was already moving (from horror).
What did my teens do during the experiment?
— cooked food, ate;
read or attempted to read
— did some school assignments (it was during the holidays, but out of desperation, many grabbed their textbooks);
— looked out the window or staggered around the apartment;
— went outside and went to a store or cafe (it was forbidden to communicate under the conditions of the experiment, but they decided that sellers or cashiers did not count);
— folded puzzles or Lego constructor;
— drew or tried to draw;
— washed;
— cleaned a room or apartment;
— played with a dog or cat;
— engaged in simulators or did gymnastics;
— wrote down their feelings or thoughts, wrote a letter on paper;
— played the guitar, piano (one — the flute);
— three wrote poetry or prose;
— one boy traveled around the city for almost five hours on buses and trolleybuses;
— one girl embroidered on canvas;
— one boy went to an amusement park and in three hours got to the point that he began to vomit;
— one young man walked Petersburg from end to end, about 25 km;
— one girl went to the Museum of Political History and another boy went to the zoo;
One girl prayed.
Sasha Fokin was raised by a computer. The results are impressive.
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Almost everyone at some point tried to fall asleep, but no one succeeded, “stupid” thoughts were obsessively spinning in their heads.
Having stopped the experiment, 14 teenagers got into social networks, 20 called friends on their mobile phones, three called their parents, five went to friends’ homes or yards. The rest turned on the TV or immersed themselves in computer games. In addition, almost everyone turned on music or put headphones in their ears almost immediately.
All fears and symptoms disappeared immediately after the termination of the experiment.
63 teenagers retroactively recognized the experiment as useful and interesting for self-knowledge. Six repeated it on their own and claim that they succeeded from the second (third, fifth) time.
When analyzing what happened to them during the experiment, 51 people used the phrases “addiction”, “it turns out I can’t live without …”, “dose”, “withdrawal”, “withdrawal syndrome”, “I need all the time …”, “cry from the needle, etc. Without exception, everyone said that they were terribly surprised by the thoughts that came to their mind during the experiment, but they were not able to carefully “examine” them due to the deterioration of their general condition.
One of the two boys who successfully completed the experiment spent the entire eight hours gluing a model of a sailing ship, with a break for food and walking the dog. Another (the son of my acquaintances — researchers) first dismantled and systematized his collections, and then transplanted flowers. Neither one nor the other did not experience any negative emotions during the experiment and did not note the appearance of «strange» thoughts.
Having received such results, I, to be honest, was a little scared. Because a hypothesis is a hypothesis, but when it is confirmed like this … But we must also take into account that not everyone took part in my experiment, but only those who became interested and agreed.
What do you think about it?