No touching! How a deprived amygdala caused long term damage in the Unabomber

http://brainmind.com/Case6.html

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According to his family, baby Ted has initially been the all American "bouncing... bundle of joy." However, around 9 months of age, he became severely ill with a dangerous case of the hives, was hospitalized and isolated, and even his parents were forbidden to make contact, to touch, hold, or hug him. This was "hospital policy" his mother was informed and sick children were to have "no visitors." There he remained, for over a month, and not once was she allowed to to touch, hold or comfort her son. According to his mother, after an initial protest phase, in which he cried incessantly and would stretch out his arms and plead and cry for her, he becoming increasingly listless, withdrawn, disinterested in and unresponsive to human contact, and "developed an institutionalized look." Thus he rapidly passed through all three stages associated with a condition Spitz referred to as "hospitalism."

For example, according to Spitz (1945, 1946) children between the ages of 6 months to 2 years, even if briefly isolated, would, within minutes, begin crying and screaming for their mothers. This was followed by a stage of despair in which they would cease to cry, lose interest in the environment and withdraw. In the final stage the children ceased to show interest in others and no longer responded to affection. Instead they became passive and unresponsive, sitting or lying quite still with a frozen expression, staring for hours at nothing (see also Bowlby, 1982). If the separation continued there was further deterioration, with children becoming ill or dying. Moreover, Spitz (1945, 1946) found that some children would quickly pass through all three phases, sometimes within a few days, and that those who experienced long-term separations often became permanently emotionally and even sexually abnormal.

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I'd like to point out that Ted K. was also physically restrained during his hospitalization.