Radiation Beak

It has been more than 48 hours since I developed a classified super power! It is different than I expected. I was convinced that I would go about my conventional daily routine with nothing more than the occasional memory that I was now different. Of course, I planned on spending my at home time in quarantine so as not to wreak havoc on the functioning thyroids of my family members, dogs included. However, I did not expect to feel guilty with possibly tainting those poor souls who happened to enter my 3 foot force field of gamma rays. So I took my special pill and ran a few errands. I found myself purposefully catching my reflection in mirrors and glass , as if I would suddenly see a neon glow around my body. Most unforeseen was the strong amount of guilt I began to experience. Did I now possess a super power that was capable of sabotaging the health of others? Was I walking biological warfare? I didn't deliberate about this idea long, rather I went immediately home and into quarantine. I even turned a blind eye to the jumping and yipping of my excited dogs.

I am gamma beak! (Beak?? you just have to know me) I haven't detected an unusual glowing but I keep looking! I am expecting my tears or saliva to light up like a yellow glow stick. Radiation is a peculiar medical treatment, in that I don't feel any different, but I have 10 days of rules to follow in order to limit radiation exposure to others. Eventually, I might get a sore throat, which I will welcome. It will do more to convince me that I didn't actually swallow a sugar pill. 48 hours and counting in quarantine. It has made me think, mostly about solitary confinement as a form of torture or punishment. 

I recently watched a documentary on solitary confinement in prisons and I was left with a sense of disgust. I couldn't believe that human beings were put into a dark room, alone, with NO human contact for years! We are social creatures from birth. We require interactions with other humans to develop normally. Studies performed with monkeys have shown us that social isolation following birth can cause a state of shock characterized by autistic like behaviors: clutching oneself and rocking. Brain EEGs (the test where a bunch of electrodes are hooked up to your head) have shown diffuse slowing after just one week in solitary confinement. This can be likened to the type of slowing seen on EEGs of people who have delirium. In fact, the brain of a man held in solitary confinement has been compared to one that has suffered traumatic brain injury. Solitary confinement can be devastating to one's ability to regulate emotions.  Prisoners have reported "losing their minds", hallucinations, intense aversion to sounds, obsessive compulsive behaviors, and panic. Studies have shown that up to 90% of men held in solitary confinement develop irrational anger. Even more horrifying was the realization that many of these men (yes, almost all are men) are released from prison, into the free world, immediately after spending countless years in solitary confinement. Upon release, they are frequently unable to organize their lives, appropriately interact with others and it is almost guaranteed that they will end up back in prison and solitary. Sadly, America LOVES solitary confinement and previous attempts to regulate this practice have failed. Torture is clearly legal in America!

Obviously my quarantine is nothing like solitary confinement, but even 2 days away from people and my dogs has made me tired and sad. Only one more full day and I will be free....mostly.