Sensory deprivation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing respectively, while more complex devices can also cut off the sense of smell, touch, taste, thermoception (heat-sense), and 'gravity'. Sensory deprivation has been used in various alternative medicines and in psychological experiments (e.g., see Isolation tank), and for torture or punishment. In physiology, a stimulus is a detectable change in the internal or external environment. ... A blindfold is a strip of cloth used to cover the eyes, rendering the user effectively (but temporarily) blind. ... A hood is a kind of headgear. ... Earmuffs are objects designed to cover a persons ears for protection. ... Alternative medicine is defined as any of various systems of healing or treating disease (as chiropractic, homeopathy, or faith healing) not included in the traditional medical curricula taught in the United States and Britain.[1] Complementary medicine is defined as any of the practices (as acupuncture) of alternative medicine accepted... Psychology (from Greek: ψυχή, psukhē, spirit, soul; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is both an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. ... An isolation tank is (ideally) a lightless, soundproof tank in which subjects float in salty water (denser than the human body) at skin temperature. ... Torture, according to international law, is any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has... Look up Punishment in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Though short periods of sensory deprivation can be relaxing, extended deprivation can result in extreme anxiety, hallucinations, bizarre thoughts, depression, and antisocial behavior.^[1] There is also an album by Blur called Leisure. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... A hallucination is a false sensory perception in the absence of an external stimulus, as distinct from an illusion, which is a misperception of an external stimulus. ... “Sad” redirects here. ... millyfan ...

Isolation tank

Main article: isolation tank

An isolation tank is a lightless, soundproof tank in which subjects float in salty water at skin temperature. They were first used by John C. Lilly in 1954 in order to test the effects of sensory deprivation. Such tanks are now also used for meditation, prayer, relaxation, and in alternative medicine. An isolation tank is (ideally) a lightless, soundproof tank in which subjects float in salty water (denser than the human body) at skin temperature. ... John Cunningham Lilly (January 6, 1915 – September 30, 2001) was an American physician, psychoanalyst and writer. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other senses of this word, see Meditation (disambiguation). ... Alternative medicine is defined as any of various systems of healing or treating disease (as chiropractic, homeopathy, or faith healing) not included in the traditional medical curricula taught in the United States and Britain.[1] Complementary medicine is defined as any of the practices (as acupuncture) of alternative medicine accepted...

Isolation tanks were originally called sensory deprivation tanks. They were renamed because it was found that the terminology of "sensory deprivation" negatively prejudiced people prior to experiencing the use of the device. Dr. Peter Suedfeld and Dr. Roderick Borrie of the University of British Columbia began experimenting on the therapeutic benefits of this technique in the late 1970s. They renamed the technique Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST) or Floatation REST.

A therapeutic session in a flotation tank typically lasts an hour. For the first forty minutes it is reportedly possible to experience itching in various parts of the body (a phenomenon also reported to be common during the early stages of meditation). The last 20 minutes often end with a transition from beta or alpha brainwaves to theta, which typically occur briefly before sleep and again at waking. In a float tank the theta state can last for several minutes without the subject losing consciousness. Many use the extended theta state as a tool for enhanced creativity and problem-solving or for superlearning. Spas sometimes provide commercial float tanks for use in relaxation. Floatation therapy has been academically studied in the USA and in Sweden with published results showing reduction of both pain and stress^[2]. The relaxed state also involves lowered blood pressure and maximal blood flow. Electroencephalography is the neurophysiologic exploration of the electrical activity of the brain by the application of electrodes to the scalp. ... Look up Creativity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Problem solving forms part of thinking. ... Superlearning is the usual term for a system to help people learn large amounts of information quickly and easily. ... Green Dragon Spring at Norris Geyser A hot spring is a place where warm or hot groundwater issues from the ground on a regular basis for at least a predictable part of the year, and is significantly above the ambient ground temperature (which is usually around 55~57°F or...

The five sensory deprivation techniques

Main article: five techniques

The five techniques of wall-standing; hooding; subjection to noise; deprivation of sleep; deprivation of food and drink were used by the security forces in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s. After the Parker Report of 1972 these techniques were formally abandoned by the United Kingdom as aids to the interrogation of paramilitary suspects. The term five techniques refers to certain interrogation practices adopted by the Northern Ireland and British governments in the early 1970s. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: ) is a part of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

NOTE that actually, four of these five so-called sensory deprivation techniques (wall-standing, loud noise, sleep deprivation, and deprivation of food and drink), all increase sensory stimulation, and are thus the opposite of sensory deprivation. The ECHR judgement perpetuates an obvious error in terminology, incorrectly labeling as torture a technique that is widely used for therapy and performance enhancement, in contexts that most people find pleasant or at worst somewhat boring: actual reduction of stimulation, either in a dark, quiet room or in a flotation tank (S. Kennedy, "The hooded men": Victims of psychological research? In P. Suedfeld, editor, Psychology and torture, Hemisphere Publishing Corp., 1980)

The Irish Government on behalf of the men who had been subject to the five methods took a case to the European Commission on Human Rights (Ireland v. United Kingdom, 1976 Y.B. Eur. Conv. on Hum. Rts. 512, 748, 788-94 (Eur. Comm’n of Hum. Rts.)). The Commission stated that it "considered the combined use of the five methods to amount to torture"^[3][4].This consideration was overturned on appeal. In 1978 in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) trial "Ireland v. the United Kingdom" ruled that the five techniques "did not occasion suffering of the particular intensity and cruelty implied by the word torture ... [but] amounted to a practice of inhuman and degrading treatment", in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), often referred to informally as the Strasbourg Court, was created to systematise the hearing of human rights complaints against States Parties to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by... “ECHR” redirects here. ...

It is on record in the ECHR judgement^[5] that:

• These methods, sometimes termed "disorientation" or "sensory deprivation" techniques, were not used in any cases other than the fourteen so indicated above. It emerges from the Commission's establishment of the facts that the techniques consisted of:
• (a) wall-standing: forcing the detainees to remain for periods of some hours in a "stress position", described by those who underwent it as being "spreadeagled against the wall, with their fingers put high above the head against the wall, the legs spread apart and the feet back, causing them to stand on their toes with the weight of the body mainly on the fingers";
• (b) hooding: putting a black or navy coloured bag over the detainees' heads and, at least initially, keeping it there all the time except during interrogation;
• (c) subjection to noise: pending their interrogations, holding the detainees in a room where there was a continuous loud and hissing noise;
• (d) deprivation of sleep: pending their interrogations, depriving the detainees of slee

• (e) deprivation of food and drink: subjecting the detainees to a reduced diet during their stay at the centre and pending interrogations.

This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...

Examples in media

• Altered States starring William Hurt, Blair Brown and Bob Balaban. Based on the novel by Paddy Chayefsky.
• The IPCRESS File (starring Michael Caine) featured a variation on sensory deprivation in the final scene.
• In the television series 24 government agents have used sensory deprivation as a method of interrogation.
• The Tom Clancy novel The Cardinal of the Kremlin features the descriptive use of a sensory deprivation device by the KGB in brainwashing techniques for counterintelligence purposes.
• The 1960's television show The Twilight Zone featured an episode in which an astronaut spent weeks in a secluded chamber in order to simulate a trip to the moon, leading to hallucinations.
• In the japanese manga Planetes an isolation chamber is used to examine the mental stability of potential astronauts.
• In the television series Alias starring Jennifer Garner sensory deprivation was used on CIA agent Sydney Bristow by The Covenant in order for them to brainwash her into thinking she was someone she was not.
• In the television series, The Simpsons, Lisa and Homer go to an alternative medicine specialist that recommends they spend time in sensory deprivation tanks.
• In the book by George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-four, sensory deprivation and its possibly mind-twisting effects are very well described in the second half of the story.
• Arthur Koestler's book, Darkness at Noon, describes sleep deprivation practices during and between interrogations in the 1938 Soviet Union.
• In the film The Jacket, Adrien Brody is placed in an improvised sensory deprivation tank as a part of his rehabilitation treatment. The deprivation tank is an important plot element.
• In the book Quiller Barracuda by Adam Hall, a description of hooding is provided by the main character in the chapter Breakthrough.
• The TV series Earth: Final Conflict features sensory deprivation prisons, where inmates float in an oxygenated fluid, completely deprived of all sensory stimuli.
• In the Larry Niven novella A Gift from Earth, a sensory deprivation tank is used as a interrogation device; in the story it is referred to as "the coffin cure".

The use of, and mention of, a sensory deprivation tank occurred on several early episodes of Frasier. It was one of Maris' few hobbies. Altered States is the name of both a novel (ISBN 0060107278) and a film adaptation of that novel, both written by Paddy Chayefsky. ... William Hurt (born March 20, 1950) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Blair Brown (born 23 April 1946 in Washington, District of Columbia) is an acclaimed stage actress who has also reached a broader audience with her television and film work, particularly, in the 1980s. ... Bob Balaban (born Robert Elmer Balaban on August 16, 1945) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and director, best known for his collaborations with Christopher Guest. ... Sidney Aaron Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) known as Paddy Chayefsky was an acclaimed dramatist who transitioned from the golden age of American live television in the 1950s to have a successful career as a playwright and screenwriter for Hollywood. ... The Ipcress File is a 1965 film adaptation of Len Deightons novel the The IPCRESS File. ... Sir Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, Jr. ... 24 (twenty four) is a current U.S. television action/drama series, produced by the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide. ... Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. ... The Cardinal of the Kremlin is a novel by Tom Clancy, featuring his character Jack Ryan. ... The KGB emblem and motto: The sword and the shield KGB (transliteration of КГБ) is the Russian-language abbreviation for Committee for State Security, (Russian: ; Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti). ... The Twilight Zone title. ... Planetes (Ancient Greek: ΠΛΑΝΗΤΕΣ (Wanderers), Japanese Katakana: プラネテス, puranetesu) is a manga by Makoto Yukimura and a 26-episode anime of the same name, that was produced by Sunrise and broadcast on NHK in Japan from October 2003 through April 2004. ... Alias is an American Spy-fi television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006, spanning five seasons. ... Jennifer Anne Garner [1] (born April 17, 1972) is a Golden Globe Award- and SAG Award-winning and Emmy Award-nominated American film and television actress, and producer. ... The Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) is an intelligence agency of the United States government. ... Sydney Anne Bristow (born 17 April 1975), played by Jennifer Garner, is the main character on the television series Alias. ... In the television series Alias, The Covenant is a large, powerful, and secretive intelligence/terrorist organization. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903[1][2] – 21 January 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. ... This article is about the Orwell novel. ... Darkness at Noon is the most famous novel by Hungarian-born British novelist Arthur Koestler. ... The Jacket is a 2005 psychological thriller, directed by John Maybury. ... Adrien Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Earth: Final Conflict is a science fiction television series posthumously created by Gene Roddenberry. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

See also

• Enhanced interrogation techniques

The Iron Maiden of Nuremberg was an infamous torture device. ...

References

• European Court of Human Rights and in a landmark judgement "Ireland v. the United Kingdom" January 18, 1978

Further reading

• Richard Feynman, (a Nobel prize winning physics), writes about his experiences with sensory deprivation in a floatation tank in one of his popular books, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!.
• John Lilly, (inventor of the flotation tank),"The Deep Self: Profound Relaxation and the Tank Isolation Technique"
• Michael Hutchison’s “The Book of Floating”
• Suedfeld, P. (1980). Restricted environmental stimulation: Research and clinical applications. Wiley Interscience.
• Suedfeld, P. & Borrie, R.A. (1999). Health and therapeutic applications of chamber and flotation Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST). Psychology and Health, 14, 545-566.

• Break Them Down: Systematic Use of Psychological Torture by US Forces a report of Physicians for Human Rights
• The Darkest Corner of the Mind an article, published in The Guardian, on the attending neuropsychiatric and lobotomising effects of a new form of torture, devised by US interrogators, and known as total isolation and sensory deprivation.
• By the Numbers Findings of the Detainee Abuse and Accountability Project Report of the Detainee Abuse and Accountability Project (26th April 2006).
• The CIA's favorite form of torture If the Bush administration forces the CIA to drop "tough" interrogation techniques like waterboarding, the agency will probably fall back on a brutal method that leaves no physical marks.

Richard Phillips Feynman (May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988; IPA: ) was an American physicist known for expanding the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, and particle theory. ... Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995) accepting the Nobel Prize for his work on magnetohydrodynamics [1]. List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ... Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is an organization that promotes health by protecting human rights. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ...

Footnotes

1. ^ Stuart Grassian Psychiatric effects of solitary confinement(PDF) This article is a redacted, non-institution and non-inmate specific, version of a declaration submitted in September 1993 in Madrid v. Gomez, 889F.Supp.1146.
   • Grassian Psychopathological effects of solitary confinement American Journal of Psychiatry Online 1983; 140: 1450-1454
   • Haney Mental Health Issues in Long-Term Solitary and "Supermax" Confinement, Crime Delinquency. 2003; 49: 124-156
   • Daryl Matthews. Physicians' Obligation to Speak Out for Prisoners' Health, American Medical Association.
   • Karen Franklin Segregation Psychosis
   • Harold I. Schwartz, Death Row Syndrome and Demoralization: Psychiatric Means to Social Policy Ends J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 33:2:153-155 (2005)
2. ^ Kjellgren A, Sundequist U, et al. "Effects of flotation-REST on muscle tension pain". Pain Research and Management 6 (4): 181-9
3. ^ Security Detainees/Enemy Combatants: U.S. Law Prohibits Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Footnote 16
4. ^ David Weissbrodt materials on torture and other ill-treatment: 3. European Court of Human Rights (doc) html: Ireland v. United Kingdom, 1976 Y.B. Eur. Conv. on Hum. Rts. 512, 748, 788-94 (Eur. Comm’n of Hum. Rts.)
5. ^ Ireland v. the United Kingdom Paragraph 96