Subterranean mania?

Beatriz Flamini lowered herself on a rope down a narrow crack in the rockface. After descending 230ft, she vanished into a cave. She was saying goodbye to the world for 16 months.

Beatriz was an aerobicsHigh-energy exercise that uses large muscle groups in your body. teacher. But at 40 she began to wonder what she was doing with her life. She decided she wanted to live in the mountains.

After a while she felt the need to go somewhere even more remote: the Gobi DesertThe largest desert in Asia, covering over 500,000 square miles.. She began training to cross it on foot.

To prepare for a long stretch on her own, she decided to spend some time in a cave. With the modern record standing at 463 days,¹ she set her sights on 500.

The cave was dark but warm all year round. It measured 100ft by 30ft, with a 40ft ceiling.

A support team watched her on CCTVShort for closed circuit television. Video camera used to monitor areas for security. . She had a computer to send them messages, but could not get any back. Food and water were left regularly close to the cave's entrance.

She read books, drew pictures and knitted. When she finally emerged, she had lost 12lbs, but was generally in good physical shape.

In an interview with The New Yorker, she said she had not wanted to leave. What she had missed most was roast chicken and chips.

The experience, though, was not always easy. She lost track of time. She started hearing things and imagined that an animal was in the cave with her.

There have always been people who seek solitude. The Christian hermitSomeone who has chosen to live away from the rest of society, usually for religious reasons. Simeon StylitesA Syrian Christian who spent 37 years living on a small platform near Aleppo. lived on top of a pillar in the Syrian desert for 37 years.

Henry David Thoreau's book Walden tells of the two years he spent living on his own in a woodland cabin in the 1840s. 

Even those forced to live in solitudeBeing alone. can find benefits in it. Nelson MandelaA South African anti-apartheid activist who spent 27 years in jail before becoming president. wrote from prison: "The cell is an ideal place to learn how to know yourself, to search realistically and regularly the process of your mind and feelings."²

Should we spend more time alone?

Yes: In this crazily busy world there is nothing better than retreating to your own room, surrounded by your favourite things, with no one to bother you. It is a chance to work out what really matters.

No: In solitude it is too easy to get wrapped up in your own thoughts and become depressed. We need the company of other people to stimulate us and test our ideas - and we need their love to support us.

Or... It depends on your personality. Some people, like Beatriz, are very good at being on their own and use the time well. Others feel a strong need to be around people and easily fall prey to loneliness.