Isolation tank
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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.
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. Other synonyms for isolation tank include float tank, floating tank, floater tank, floatation tank, flotation tank, REST tank, floatation baths, John Lilly tank and sensory attenuation tank.
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Dr John Lilly, a medical practitioner and neuro-psychiatrist, developed the floatation tank in the 1950s. During his training in psychoanalysis, at NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health), Dr Lilly commenced experiments with physical isolation. In neurophysiology there had been a longstanding question of what keeps the brain going and where are its energy sources. One answer was that the energy sources are biological and internal and don’t depend upon the outside environment. It was argued that if all stimuli is cut off to the brain then it would go to sleep. Lilly decided to test this hypothesis and with this in mind created an environment which totally isolated an individual from external stimulation. From here he studied the origin of consciousness and its relation to the brain.
In the original tanks, people were required to wear complicated head-masks in order to breathe underwater. In newer tanks, epsom salt is added to the water in the tank to raise the density of the water above the density of the human body, so that the subject floats with his or her face above the water. However, since the ears are submerged when the subject is in a relaxed position, hearing is greatly reduced, particularly when ear-plugs are also used. When the arms float to the side, skin sensation is greatly reduced because the air and water are the same temperature as the skin, and the feeling of a body boundary fades. The sense of smell is also greatly reduced, especially if the water has not been treated with chlorine.
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[1]. The relaxed state also involves lowered blood pressure and maximal blood flow.
Floating can be passive or active, depending on the purpose. For relaxation, one simply floats and becomes the observer of the body/mind system . Active floating has many different techniques. One may perform meditation, mantras, self-hypnosis, utilize educational programs, etc. The idea of active floating is that, when the body is relaxed, the mind becomes highly suggestible and any action taken during these states will enter the information into the sub-conscious. Floatation may be augmented through the use of such things as ozonated water, special salts (Himalayan), scented oils, crystals, etc. Floatation therapy may be used complimentary to other body work and healing methods.
More extreme uses of the tank involve the subject taking varying doses of hallucinogens, such as LSD, and spending prolonged periods in the tank (up to tens of hours) at a time, an approach pioneered by Lilly himself – though he claims to have tried LSD in the tank only prior to 1964, when the drug was still legal, a decade after his first experiments with the tank itself.
[edit] In popular culture
- Paddy Chayefsky's novel Altered States and the film based on it deal with a scientist who is able to reach different states of consciousness by use of drugs and the isolation tank.
- In Tom Clancy's novel, The Cardinal of the Kremlin, the KGB uses an isolation tank.
- Richard Feynman, a famous physicist, writes about his experiences with sensory deprivation in a floatation tank in one of his popular books, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!. Feynman was invited to try the isolation tank at John Lilly's home after Lilly attended one of Feynman's popular lectures on quantum mechanics.
- In the episode Make Room for Lisa on the TV show The Simpsons, Lisa and Homer both use an isolation tank. Lisa experiences altered consciousness and is led to a better understanding of her father. Homer has a wild ride when his tank is first removed by repo men, falls out the back of their truck, is buried by the Flanders (who believe it to be a coffin), sinks through thin earth into a sewage drain, is carried out to sea by a sudden gush of sewage water, washes up on the beach, and is then returned by Chief Wiggum to the store from which it was originally repossessed.
- Joe Rogan talked about owning and using an isolation tank on the Opie & Anthony show. He briefly mentioned an experience where he ate psychedelic mushrooms before entering the tank.
- In the film Daredevil, the main character, Matt Murdock, while blind, has extraordinarily heightened senses (particularly hearing) that make it very difficult for him to sleep without an isolation tank to shut out the outside world.
- In the episode "Iso Tank" or "Adoption" in the British series Absolutely Fabulous, the isolation tank is satirized by referring to it as a Robin Reliant as well as a warm puddle. It is also responsible for Edina's dream and subsequent hallucination, which is the premise for the episode.
- In the video game Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, the character Null, who has been trained as the "Perfect Soldier" by the CIA, is kept restrained in an isolation tank when he is not in combat.
- Oysterhead's song "Oz is Ever Floating" is about a man who thinks he reaches nirvana in an Isolation Tank. It mentions John C. Lilly numerous times.
- In the book Maximum Ride: School's Out - Forever by James Patterson, the main character, Max Ride, is locked in an isolation tank by the "whitecoats."
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Kjellgren A, Sundequist U, et al. "Effects of flotation-REST on muscle tension pain". Pain Research and Management 6 (4): 181-9
[edit] Books
- Hutchison, Michael (2003). The Book of Floating: Exploring the Private Sea.Gateways Books and Tapes. ISBN 0895561182
- Lilly, John C. & E.J. Gold (2000). Tanks for the Memories: Flotation Tank Talks. Gateways Books & Tapes. ISBN 0895560712
- Lilly, John C. (1981). The Deep Self: Profound Relaxation and the Tank Isolation Technique. Warner Books. ISBN 044633023X
- Lilly, John C. (1990). The Center of the Cyclone. Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0714509612
- Lilly, John C. (1996). The Scientist: A Metaphysical Autobiography. Ronin Publishing. ISBN 0914171720
