Depending on how much TV you watch you might have come across the concept of a sensory deprivation chamber.
You go into a location where one or more of your senses is essentially reduced or removed from being able to do anything, and it usually involves somebody floating in water.
They're very much a real thing beyond the realms of fiction, as short sessions inside the things are considered to be relaxing and potentially even good for stress relief, Heathline states.
However, it's probably a bad idea to stick someone in there for long periods of time as people who've tried sensory deprivation for extended durations have said it made them feel anxious, have strange thoughts, feel depressed and even hallucinate.
Sensory deprivation has also been used as a torture technique and has been slammed as 'inhumane', with people who have been subjected to it saying that even after it ended and they were released they still did not feel 'free'.
Three hours in here, by the end of it you can't see or hear anything, would you do it? (YouTube/Ryan Trahan)
When YouTuber Ryan Trahan decided to give sensory deprivation a go, he found a place that would let him stay inside for up to three hours, with him being progressively relieved of his senses the longer he spent there.
In the first hour, he'd be floating in water to give him the 'no gravity' sensation, then for the second hour, they'd switch the lights off while the third hour would be 'complete sensory deprivation' without any sense of gravity, light or sound.
Sounds like quite a time.
He already found it difficult from the start since he couldn't swim and struggled to float, but in those opening minutes, he seemed to be enjoying the water.
About 40 minutes in, he actually fell asleep while floating in the water, and woke up just in time for them to switch the lights off.
This is only stage one, after the first hour they switch off the lights. (YouTube/Ryan Trahan)
Just over two hours in, he started thinking about his grandma as he recounted a memory of her and became emotional, then it was time to pop in the earplugs and go for complete sensory deprivation.
At this point, he said he could only hear the noises inside his ear and then fell asleep again.
He described the final 20 minutes of his sensory deprivation as a 'spiritual experience', but since his senses were deprived, he spent 10 minutes more than he'd planned in there as he didn't hear his alarm to tell him his time was up.
Even if he lost all concept of time for a bit, the YouTuber did clear the three hours he'd aimed to complete.
If you're wondering why sensory deprivation can cause hallucinations, it's because something called 'the Ganzfeld effect' kicks in and your brain tries to make up for the missing information by itself.
Still want to give sensory deprivation a go?
English (US) ·