Experiment FR32 aimed to assess the effects of total
solitary confinement on the human pysche. Much work has been done over
the last century on the effect such confinement has on the dietary habits
of confined subjects, and further investigation was undertaken into the
propensity towards cannibalism that a combination of isolation and nutritional
deprivation had on a subject. Many previous studies of confinement have
indicated a tendency in most subjects to converse with imaginary companions
or animals. The addition of preserved corpses into the test environment
after 1 week would serve the dual purposes of investigating the hunger
threshold for cannibalism and the tendency towards relation to figments.
An experimental preservative was used to prevent decomposition of the
introduced corpses. The preservative is designed to provide sustenance
for survivors in the event of non-rescue.
A male subject was selected with no prior history of mental or behavioral disorders and no serious health problems. The confinement needed to induce total sensory isolation from humanity. A soundproofed cell was constructed with a trapdoor in the ceiling for access. Two observation cameras with enhanced spectral range for dark environments were set up and concealed. Water was delievered into the cell by a slow release apparatus that could be fed externally so that the subject had a constant supply of water without the need for human contact. A supply of insects were periodically introduced to the cell to provide limited nutrition for the subject, including Periplaneta Americana (Fig.1), Forficula aurigularia (Fig.2) and Dermestes lardarius (Fig.3) Fig.1 Periplaneta Americana - American Cockroach Fig.2 Forficula Aurigularia - European Earwig Fig.3 Dermestes Lardarius - Skin Beetle Experiment FR32 |
| The subject's first day was spent in a predictable
cycle of rage and dejection. He repeatedly beat his fists on the wall
and screamed, followed by hours of sitting in a corner pulling his knees
to his chest. After 3 hours in the cell he had located the drinking apparatus.
He made no attempt to sleep, seeming unaware of the time, and spent the
first night and much of the second day protesting his innocence and making
demands.
Upon waking on the third day, the subject defecated in a corner of the cell furthest from the drinking apparatus. After repeated vocal protests and demands for food, he began crawling around the floor of the cell, apparantly searching for insects by touch. He found approximately 15 insects, all of which he ate. For the remainder of the week, the subject becam increasingly
silent, such that on the sixth day only one utterance was made and none
on the seventh. The majority of his time was spent either lying on the
floor or sitting with his knees pulled in to his chest. Every 5-6 hours,
the subject searched for insects to eat. |
| On the subject's eighth day in confinement, a corpse
preserved with the experimental solution SPC/3.1 was added into the cell.
The subject became very agitated when the trapdoor was opened and began
shouting and screaming at the staff as they dropped the corpse into the
cell. The subject then shouted at the corpse and, having poked at the
corpse with his foot and examining it with trepidation, the Subject established
that it was deceased and thereafter carefully avoided any contact with
it. The subject then (difficult to read) 2 hours before
he subsided. He maintained his distance from the corpse and fell asleep
for 5 hours after the corpse had been introduced.
On awaking, to the subject searched for insects carefully avoiding the corpse but failed to find any. He began to pull out strands of his own hair, rolled them into a ball and swalloed them. After almost haf an hour of hair pulling, the subject suddenly stood and began shouting, mainly about whoever had placed him in the cell and the perversity of his current situation, but soon degenerated into bizarre conspiracy theories, repentant apologies from his childhood and eventually unintelligible utterances. By the fourth day of week 2, he appeared to have lost track of the natural cycles day and night, by the end of the second week he would sleep for about 4 hours in every 12-14 hours, suggesting he had lost the correct sense of day length. Shouting and any other attempts to communicate largely ceased after the fourth day. Throughout this period (difficult to read)
was seen to defecate on 3 occasions, always in the same corner of the
cell furthest from the water. Most of his waking time was split between
searching for insects and sitting on the floor hugging his knees to his
chest. Any contact with the corpse was avoided. |
| For the beginning of the week, the subject spent
the majority of his time trying to find insects and pulling out his own
hair to eat. On the third day of week 3, while searching for insects,
he started getting closer to the corpse, until eventually he picked something
off the corpse itself and ate it. Instantly after this he quickly moved
to the opposite corner and began to cry with his head in his hands. The
crying continued for several hours until the subject fell asleep. He awoke
screaming 4 hours later, and started a hysterical fit lasting almost 2
hours.
A significant step was made on the fifth day, by which time the subject had self induced alopecia cocalis. The subject began to pull out the corpses hair and (difficult to read). He seemed to have a mental barrier, and upon waking the next time, he began to prod the corpse which was still showing no external signs of decomposition. Much of the day was spent in close proximity to the corpse until eventually the subject scratching at the corpse's abdominal region with his nails. It took him almost 2 hours to create a crude incision, but he eventually gained access and managed to locate the corpse's stomach. He bit into it and made an opening, but stopped immediately and moved quickly to the defecation corner and disgorged small quantities of bile. After drinking some water, the subject returned to the opened stomach and slowly began to consume the contents. Having finished eating the stomach contents, he retreated to a corner and cried for half an hour before falling asleep. Once the cannibalistic taboo had been broken, the subject was frequently seen pulling small pieces of skin and muscle tissue from the around the crude abdomen incision and eating them. |
At the beginning of the week, the subject continued
to pick matter from around the corpse's exposed abdominal cavity. Halfway
through the week, he began to tear at the skin and tissue on the corpse's
hands and feet. Within 21 days of solitary confinement and starvation,
the subject had fully crossed the threshold into full-blown cannibalism.
Interestingly, four days after the onset of cannibalism, the subject began
delusional conversations with the corpse. These began as whispers that
could not be deciphered, but by the end of the week, whole sentences could
be discerned. He appeared to have reverted to a pre-pubescent stage of
development, talking to the corpse about toys and third grade school work
as though it were a childhood companion. This imagined resumption of a
childhood friendship appeared to life the subjects’ spirits somewhat
and he would talk to the corpse manically almost non-stop. |
| --------------------------------------------------- At the end of the fourth week, a second corpse became available and was added into the cell as the subject slept. The subject awoke as soon as the trapdoor opened and began screaming and shouting to be released. The bout of agitated screaming continued for an hour and a half. The opening of the trap door appeared to have reminded the subject of society outside the cell. By this stage the subject was living in "day" cycles of about 8 hours, and upon awaking the next time, he initiated an extensive and apparently heated discussion with the first corpse, which led to apparent mocking of the new corpse. This form of behaviour has been widely reported in child psychology investigations into social (difficult to read) strengthen their social alliance by turning on a newcomer. After 45 minutes of this, the subject attacked the new corpse and then began tearing at its belly. Eventually he resorted to using one of the exposed tarsus bones from corpse #1's foot, and succeeded in gaining access to the corpse #2's stomach. He picked out undigested food particles from the stomach and ate them. The subject began to defecate without concern for his position in the cell, contrasted to the careful restriction to a single corner that had been witnessed in the preceding 5 weeks. Any insects that were found were consumed, but the subject repeatedly ate flesh from the 2 corpses without showing the earlier signs of distress at this behaviour. |
The subject (difficult to read)
on one half of the wall. The details of what marks are being made cannot
be discerned due to the position of the observation cameras. The subject
uses his own feces to make the marks and makes no attempt to wipe the
feces off his hands prior to removing flesh from the corpses to eat. It
is supposed that prolonged exposure to his own feces in such close proximity
has removed the socially accepted revulsion. |
| On the second day of week 7, the subject was witnessed striking the wall
with his fist. The auto-infliction of injury increased the severity over
the week and seemed to occur at fairly regular intervals of approximately
2 hours. Striking the wall with (difficult to read) witnessed
as well as occasional incidences of using his head.
The subject is exhibiting minor symptoms of catabolysis due to starvation
despite his consumption of small pieces of tissue from corpse #2. |
| A new corpse was made available at the beginning
of week 8. Again this was dropped into the subject's cell as he slept.
Again the subject awoke, but instead of expressing anger directed at his
captors, he exhibited fear and anxiety. The subject withdrew to a corner
and cowered for several hours.
Once more he attempted to gain access to the corpse's stomach using a bone as a tool. He removed the contents of the stomach and ate them before finding and eating the liver. Apparently sated, he then pulled the large intestine (difficult to read) and began to dance around the small cell humming to himself. After only a few (difficult to read) he pushed the new corpse over onto its front and (difficult to read). In an apparently fit of self loathing, the subject then began to smash the corpse's face into the floor of the cell, before breaking down in tears. After a few hours of sleep the subject began screaming at the top of his voice until he became hoarse and ceased. He then began to throw himself at the wall of his cell head first in an apparently attempt to kill himself. This continued for almost an hour and considerable head trauma was evident. His final act was to pull the partially exposed ulna, from the left arm of corpse #2, throw it at a wall until it splintered and then hack at his own wrists until he passed out from blood loss and eventually died. The expression of self loathing to some level of ego integrity and the act of suicide suggests that the social values were still installed in his mind despite the prolonged period of total isolation, Despite fully (difficult to read) and repeated acts of cannibalism, the subject still had some sense of socially acceptable (difficult to read) and sufficient (difficult to read). |