#shalev

bc everyone’s doin’ it so Y Not?????

top: Alhanin, Fèwena, Inanallas middle: Tace, Keshet, Shalev bottom: Imshi, Eth’Menala, Varenasal

Shalev by Lucinda

Zeruja Salev írónő egy galileai kibucban született. Jeruzsálemben él, ahol könyvkiadóként és íróként dolgozik. Ahhoz az új izraeli írógenerációhoz tartozik, amelyet a földrajzi határok miatti konfliktusoknál és a népek közti háborúknál sokkal jobban érdekelnek a belső társadalmi konfliktusok, a nemek közti harc vagy az érzelmi korlátok következményei.

Given the ratherdistinct symptoms of solitary I feel odd describing it as traumatised. I’m notsaying you shouldn’t, it is definitelyharmful, but the symptoms she has may not be the symptoms of ‘ordinary’ trauma.

 How soon she’d be readyfor a relationship depends on her specific symptom set. Generally she’sprobably isn’t going to be ready forone soon but certain symptoms might lengthen the amount of time it would take.

 It’s also worth bearingin mind that she might want arelationship way before she’s ready.

 She might try to startone before she herself is really healthy enough to commit the…emotional andmental energy a relationship requires. She might expect her partner to not justsupport her but somehow magically fix her life and mental health. Arelationship like that would almost certainly break down, but it might not doso on bad terms.

 So here’s a link to Shalev’s Sourcebook on Solitary Confinement,which is a very helpful and free resource on the effects of isolation. Chapter2 goes into a lot of detail on symptoms and provides some research on which symptoms are more common.

 Generally speakingdepression, mood swings, self harm, aggression, panic attacks, anxiety, poorself control, aggression, memory problems, paranoia, hallucinations and a shortattention span cover most of the possible psychological symptoms.

 I don’t think all of these persist afterrelease. I’ve not heard of people who hallucinated in solitary continuing tohallucinate in the long term after they’re released (and it’s not a hugelycommon symptom).

 The mood swings,depression, memory problems, anxiety, aggression, memory and concentrationproblems can all persist. The character might also have persistent problemswith sensitivity to sound or light or smells. Not everyone has all symptoms butshe’d probably have at least 2-4 after a year in solitary. Because we don’thave a good way to predict which symptoms manifest or persist I advise pickingsymptoms based on what you feel fits your character and story. (And in thiscase I’d note that aggression is rarely attached to female characters- just athought)

 Any of these problemsalone would make a romantic relationship a bit harder. Whether someone isready- that’s highly dependent on the individual and how well she can manageher symptoms.

 She probably wouldn’t have learnt healthy ways tomanage her symptoms in solitary.

 If she has access toprofessional help that might well speed things up, but I think generally….howsoon she can be in a relationship is going to depend on how well she can manageher symptoms and how understanding her partner is.

 A partner who isn’t understanding could well set herback and I don’t think that would be healthy.

 And how people managetheir symptoms can be pretty individual. Recognising the symptoms is a goodfirst step but beyond that I’d suggest looking at ScriptShrink’s blog for adviceon the symptoms you chose for her.

 If you want her to havea romantic relationship and don’t want it to fall apart then my advice iseither to have her wait until she’s a lot healthier, which would probably takeyears or have her act recognise herinterest in another character and alsorecognise that she isn’t ready yet. Have her be honest about both those thingswith her potential-partner. And have them hold off on moving anywhere beyondfriends until she feels she’s healthy enough.

 I hope that helps. :)

With theproviso that it depends partly on howlong exactly this goes on for…..the general effect will be pretty bad.

Becauseit’s free and it’s damn thorough, I’m going to recommend you take a quick lookat Shalev’s Sourcebookon Solitary Confinement. I’ve found it incredibly helpful.

Peoplewho’ve been held in solitary long term are generally….very starved for any sortof human interaction. And they don’t always seek it out in healthy ways. Shalevdescribes aggression and prisoners trying to pick fights with the guards justto get them to stick around a little longer.

They findit difficult to interact with people after they’re released and may end upisolating themselves which exacerbates their symptoms.

From awriting perspective this is a good chance to show that his new friend is kind and friendly by having them bepatient and gentle with him. By having them go out of their way to help.

I thinkyou also need to consider exactly how long this guy is held. Because a very common symptom of solitaryconfinement is depression coupled with self-harm and suicide attempts. Thelonger he’s in solitary the more likely that is.

And sincehe’s fighting regularly suicide would be easy. He could just choose not tofight back.

A monthwould be enough time for him to suffer serious side effects without necessarilyhaving attempted suicide. Anything over a year and I’d start to wonder how hewas still alive.

The mostcommon psychological effects of solitary are depression, anxiety,aggression, mood swings, panic attacks, poor impulse control, feeling they’regoing to die, general hostility, poor memory, poor concentration and apathy.Hallucinations, paranoia and hypersensitivity also happen.

Physicalsymptoms include insomnia, headaches, joint pain, lack of appetite, lethargy,weakness, poor eyesight and feeling cold.

Noteveryone will have all the symptoms. Some people will have different symptomsat different times.

As awriter I tend to approach that by picking a set of symptoms for a character andshowing them consistently.

Withsolitary the data we have at the moment suggests that for short termconfinement (a week or two) the symptoms vanish when the victim is allowed tosocialise freely again. In the longer term a lot of the damage seems to become permanent.

Somepeople are extremely resistant to solitary confinement and we’re not entirelysure why. Having a cause they’resuffering for seems to help a lot, political prisoners seem to do better insolitary then other prisoners. Knowing when they’ll be released or able tosocialise again also makes a big difference to people’s health.

I get theimpression those don’t apply to your character, which is part of why Isuggested a month as your time frame. He’d show symptoms, possibly quite severeones, but he’d still have a realistic chance of total recovery.

I hopethat helps.

(Edited for typos)

i also built them a house from the ground up, my first ever build

it’s not perfect but im happy with it

anyway, the wisteria is carefully tended to by shalev, naturally. you can probably catch a glimpse of a graveyard with three tombstones in the background soemtimes. every raven they’ve ever owned that passed...............