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Solitude, also known as social withdrawal, is a state of seclusion or isolation, meaning lack of socialisation. Effects can be either positive or negative, depending on the situation. Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may work, think, or rest without disturbance. It may be desired for the sake of privacy. Long-term solitude may stem from soured relationships, loss of loved ones, deliberate choice, infectious disease, , neurological disorders such as circadian rhythm sleep disorder, or circumstances of employment or situation.
A distinction has been made between solitude and loneliness. In this sense, these two words refer, respectively, to the joy and the pain of being alone.Paul Tillich, The Eternal Now, 1963, chapter 1 "Loneliness and Solitude", section II: "Our language has wisely sensed these two sides of being alone. It has created the word 'loneliness' to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word 'solitude' to express the glory of being alone."Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1973, chapter 13 "Ideology and Terror: A Novel Form of Government", p. 476: "As Epictetus sees it ( Dissertationes, Book 3, ch. 13) the lonely man ( eremos) finds himself surrounded by others with whom he cannot establish contact or to whose hostility he is exposed. The solitary man, on the contrary, is alone and therefore 'can be together with himself' since men have the capacity of 'talking with themselves.' In solitude, in other words, I am 'by myself,' together with my self, and therefore two-in-one, whereas in loneliness I am actually one, deserted by all others.", . Solitude is a pivotal phenomenon in the thinking of existentialists, and reflections on it have been recently tied with pandemic lockdowns and self-isolation solitary confinement; for example as argued in: Nader El-Bizri, "Being in Solitary Quarantine", Studia UBB Philosophia, Vol. 65, No. 2 (2020): 7–32.
Long-term solitude is often seen as undesirable, causing loneliness or recluse resulting from inability to establish relationships. Furthermore, it might lead to clinical depression, although some people do not react to it negatively. Buddhist regard long-term solitude as a means of enlightenment. marooning people have been left in solitude for years without any report of psychological symptoms afterwards. Some psychological conditions (such as schizophrenia and schizoid personality disorder) are strongly linked to a tendency to seek solitude.
Enforced loneliness (solitary confinement) has been a punishment method throughout history. It is often considered a form of torture.
Emotional isolation is a state of isolation where one feels emotionally separated from others despite having a well-functioning social network.
Researchers, including Robert J. Coplan and Julie C. Bowker, have rejected the notion that solitary practices and solitude are inherently dysfunctional and undesirable. In their 2013 book A Handbook of Solitude, the authors note how solitude can allow for enhancements in self-esteem, generates clarity, and can be highly therapeutic. In the edited work, Coplan and Bowker invite not only fellow psychology colleagues to chime in on this issue but also a variety of other faculty from different disciplines to address the issue. Fong's chapter offers an alternative view on how solitude is more than just a personal trajectory for one to take inventory on life; it also yields a variety of important sociological cues that allow the protagonist to navigate through society, even highly politicized societies. In the process, political prisoners in solitary confinement were examined to see how they concluded their views on society. Thus Fong, Coplan, and Bowker conclude that a person's experienced solitude generates immanent and personal content as well as collective and sociological content, depending on context.
A person's creativity can be sparked when given freedom. Solitude can increase freedom and moreover, freedom from distractions has the potential to spark creativity. In 1994, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi found that adolescents who cannot bear to be alone often stop enhancing creative talents.
Another proven benefit to time given in solitude is the development of the self. When a person spends time in solitude from others, they may experience changes to their self-concept. This can also help a person to form or discover their identity without any outside distractions. Solitude also provides time for contemplation, growth in personal spirituality, and self-examination. In these situations, loneliness can be avoided as long as the person in solitude knows that they have meaningful relations with others.
Negative effects of solitude may also depend on age. Elementary age school children who experience frequent solitude may react negatively. This is largely because often, solitude at this age is not the child's choice. Solitude in elementary-age children may occur when they are unsure of how to interact socially, so they prefer to be alone, causing shyness or social rejection.
While teenagers are more likely to feel lonely or unhappy when not around others, they are also more likely to have a more enjoyable experience with others if they have had time alone first. However, teenagers who frequently spend time alone do not have as good a global adjustment as those who balance their time of solitude with their time of socialization.
In psychology, introverted persons may require spending time alone to recharge, whereas those who are simply Asociality might find it a pleasurable setting in which to occupy oneself with solitary tasks.
The Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment through uses of meditation, deprived of sensory input, bodily necessities, and external desires, including social interaction. The context of solitude is attainment of pleasure from within, but this does not necessitate complete detachment from the external world.
This is well demonstrated in the writings of Edward Abbey with particular regard to Desert Solitaire where solitude focused only on isolation from other people allows for a more complete connection to the external world, as in the absence of human interaction the natural world itself takes on the role of the companion. In this context, the individual seeking solitude does so not strictly for personal gain or introspection, though this is often an unavoidable outcome, but instead in an attempt to gain an understanding of the natural world as entirely removed from the human perspective as possible, a state of mind much more readily attained in the complete absence of outside human presence.
Psychiatric institutions may institute full or partial isolation for certain patients, particularly the violent or subversive, in order to address their particular needs and to protect the rest of the recovering population from their influence.
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