[Maru]

This would escalate to a lawsuit in a heartbeat. As soon as the situation turns emotionally abusive in any manner, there will be a public outrage. I doubt any therapist worth their weight would approve of such an setup either.

People do strange things and act differently under duress, so there is no predicting how those individuals would handle that environment. To have those awkward conditions televised for the public consumption for the purposes of ratings would likely be breaking some sort of law (or at least skirting it). I get the "experimental" aspects of it, but I don't think that's what a lot of people find entertaining about the show... it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, as they say. Then it becomes too serious and I think too uncomfortable to walk imo.

We also have to think about the type of environment this kind of show would be airing in and probably it would be seen as crossing too many lines for entertainment, even in 2018. If they were done "by the book", it would still be seen as a huge step down for television and Big Brother taking advantage of emotionally vulnerable people for TV ratings... and yes, they would be made vulnerable, not excluding the additional pressure of the cameras.

If I understand your synopsis correctly, then the environment would unmistakably be ripe for at least a few forms of psychological abuse... it's too high of a chance of trauma developing in those contestants and likely would bring out the very worst in some folk as well... we're talking about putting people in a tiny little space living under some extreme conditions they could never possibly be prepared for... and then adding in the inevitable psychologically reconditioning and intimidation tactics if it is even remotely close to the book... no one could offer me enough money to participate in that.