Why I'd Rather Be Tortured than Put in Solitary Confinement

When most people hear the word torture, they imagine waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and starving, among countless other types of physical pain. When I hear the word torture, I think of those same things, of course, but the very first thing that pops into my head is solitary confinement.

This article from The Week tells the story of a man who was in solitary confinement for 75 days. His 7-by-ten-foot cell contained only a small bed and a toilet. The only thing he had that vaguely resembled human contact was the occasional glimpse of a security guard through a tiny plastic window in the door of his cell.

I can't even begin to imagine being completely and utterly alone. Everyone has experienced physical pain, but who has experienced living in a cell like that with no human interaction or way to pass the time for months? Your brain needs stimulation, and when it doesn't get enough from your environment, it creates its own. In solitary confinement, you start to hallucinate. Your brain goes into a fog and you can't concentrate on anything. 

The man in the article describes how his life has changed after his time in solitary. He stands on trains with his back to the door because he can't let people come up behind him, which makes crowds difficult. He struggles with paranoid fears of being attacked by strangers on the street or policemen for no reason.

Why do you think that our prison systems still use solitary confinement as a form of punishment? Do you think that solitary confinement can be justified?