Was overhearing something on tv my bf was watching about solitary confinement.

They said they did a study on inmates in solitary and ones in general population, and the ones in solitary ate more than the ones in general overall when sat down and given a plate for the study, and ate more cookies.

Somehow this is not shocking

I also don't find it surprising.

Being lonely... makes me eat more... so... doesn't surprise me either

Not surprising, but very interesting. Thanks for posting.

Boredom eating anyone? Glad the study wasn't done on me!! I'd double my start weight, no question.

Yep, lonely and bored. Interesting, though.

No surprise here either. Although I have always struggled with weight, it didn't become totally out of control until I moved to a farm in the middle of nowheresville Nebraska. It got worse when I became a stay at home mom. Funny that the more weight I gained the more I wanted to stay in solitary confinement.

Now that I realize there is a connection I decided to get a part time job, (That has started to become more like a full time job) at school...the most populated place in the county. Whatever works to keep me from zoning back into self induced confinement. Lonely sucks.

Um... duh?

I actually always wondered what I would do if I were in that situation and hope that I would do a ton of push-ups/sit-ups/running in place but in reality I'd probably eat those extra cookies!

They are also planning on doing a study on if solitary causes/makes existing mental illnesses worse.

Ummm. What is the point of throwing money at these studies that are studying things that are terribly obvious? Let's invest money to see if the sky is blue! Come on people!

Makes sense.

I was just had a similar thought.

I thought there were studies that showed people tended to eat more in group situations? Or the "fat friends make each other fat by giving each other tacit permission to indulge?" Alone - eat. Group - eat.

I wouldn't call being in general population being with friends though...

They were making the point that loneliness and I'm sure the inevitable depression that comes along with solitary, made people eat more than the group situation did.