The field settings in which these studies are conducted typically contain a number of elements, any one or a number of which might provoke psychological or social dysfunction. Finally, most naturalistic studies of isolated and confined individuals do not include controlled observations of people who are living and working together in nonisolated, nonconfined locations. Although some informative data from natural settings may be available, these data rarely offer the degree of comparability desired. The declines observed thus far have not appeared among all, or even the majority of participants. A continuing concern, however, is that prolonged isolation and confinement can lead to cognitive impairment of sufficient magnitude to prevent satisfactorily coping with emergency situations.
Many studies suggest that prolonged isolation and confinement results in a loss of motivation.
A common report is that study participants begin confinement with every intention of engaging in creative activities such as writing, completing a project, or accomplishing some serious reading. These worthwhile goals rarely are achieved, or even attempted. Instead, most hours of confinement are spent in time-marking activities such as solitaire. Cleveland et al. Somatic complaints - Relatively common correlates of isolation and confinement are insomnia, headaches, digestive problems, and other somatic complaints.