The only way is Social

I've come to believe rather firmly that human beings cannot possibly strive and remain sound of mind within the context of social isolation - that is, if the person first developed within a social context. It would be different for those human beings who never socially interacted with others from the start or from so early on that they didn't have time to develop social/Man-like capabilities such as human language (see the case of feral children).

The more socially isolated one grows, the more one's visions, perceptions and even worldview will become warped and distorted to the point of delusions, depression and other mental disorders. The moment Man is tamed, social isolation becomes one of the greatest risks to his wellbeing, to the point of becoming one of the greatest threats to his own life.

We could even extend that to small groups and even what we call 'communities', in the sense that very tight-knit communities do also experience the same sort of symptoms as someone completely isolated on an individual level (ever lived in a small village, for instance?). The tightly-knit community experiences the same narrowness of mind, sometimes developing extreme or 'on the fringe' types of beliefs that would be called delusions in the case of a mere individual - but the reason why some tightly-knit communities sometimes experience the same symptoms as an individual socially isolated is because these communities stand cut off from the overall community, or if you like they stand cut off from the rest of the world, so to speak. A fractal-like representation of the world can make it easier to see how different levels can lead to the same outcomes.

There's nothing new in what I've just described but it is something I've come to fully realise within myself, including many - but of course not all - ramifications departing from that one realisation.

Diving into the void of one's self is frightening, especially so when one starts to unveil more and more disturbing behaviour and patterns of thoughts. Most things we usually cover up deep down within ourselves, and perhaps sometimes there is a psychological need for such a deeply-ingrained need to camouflage our imbalances by 'role playing' in front of others and often with ourselves, too.

Self-deception, role playing, needing others... maybe it's all part and parcel of a healthy social animal.