Sensory deprivation (from lat. Sensus - feeling and lat. Deprivatio - loss, deprivation [1] ) - partial or complete cessation of external influence on one or more senses , which leads to a decrease in the flow of nerve impulses into the central nervous system [1] . Sensory deprivation can occur when personnel are isolated in a confined space (in a submarine , spaceship, etc.); moreover, in space flight, the development of sensory deprivation contributes to the state of weightlessness [1] .
The simplest devices for deprivation , such as blindfolds or earplugs , reduce or remove effects on vision and hearing , while more sophisticated devices can "turn off" the sense of smell , touch , taste , temperature receptors and vestibular apparatus . Sensory deprivation is used in alternative medicine , yoga , meditation , psychological experiments (for example, with a camera of sensory deprivation ), as well as BDSM games and for torture and punishment.
Short periods of sensory deprivation have a relaxing effect on a person, trigger processes of internal subconscious analysis, structuring and sorting of information, processes of self-adjustment and stabilization of the psyche, while prolonged deprivation of external stimuli can lead to extreme anxiety , loss of connection with reality, hallucinations , depression , inability to concentrate and asocial behavior [2] [3] [4] , which can subsequently lead to post-traumatic stress . This feature of the effect of sensory deprivation on a person’s personality through his senses has been widely used in conducting forced inquiry procedures [5] (see, for example, “ five methods ” or “ advanced interrogation methods ”).
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Sensory Deprivation Camera
The sensory deprivation chamber is a sound and lightproof tank where a person swims in salt water, whose density is equal to body density and whose temperature is very close to body temperature. Such a camera was first used by John Lilly in 1954 to study the effects of sensory deprivation. Such cameras are also used for meditation , relaxation, and in alternative medicine . Also used is the term “floating” capsule ( English float [flout] - to float freely, stay on the surface).
Peter Syudfeld and Roderick Borry of the University of British Columbia studied the therapeutic uses of the sensory deprivation chamber in the late 1970s . Their technique was called Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST).
Benefits of Sensory Deprivation
Sensory deprivation is very actively used as a means of combating many emotional conditions and diseases. The most common ones are:
- stress;
- Depression
- fear of decision making;
- problems with the musculoskeletal system [6]
Many exercises of various schools use deprivation to correct personality. Closed eyes, a quiet, secluded place, a motionless posture, hermitage - these are all types of sensory deprivation used for various practices of self-development [7] .
Negative Consequences
As the time spent in conditions of sensory deprivation increases at the stage of unstable mental activity, emotional lability appears with a shift to a lowered mood - lethargy, depression, apathy, which change for a short time with euphoria, irritability.
The more stringent conditions of sensory deprivation, the faster the processes of thinking are violated, which is manifested in the inability to concentrate on something, to consecutively think over problems. They fix a decrease in extrapolation function and productivity when performing simple mental actions [8] .
In the case of an increase in the time of exposure to sensory deprivation, eidetic ideas can get out of the control of the actual “I” and manifest in the form of hallucinations. In the genesis of this process, asthenization of the nervous system and the development of hypnotic phases in the cerebral cortex are clearly visible. [eight]
Risk Factors in Children
Speaking of deprivation in children, impaired sensitivity from signals from the outside world is implied. In children, this violation is divided into total or partial and can lead to a lag in mental and mental development. Visual and auditory deprivation is more common. The danger is the deprivation of tactile, visual, voice contact with the mother in the first months of life.
Children brought up in boarding schools without a family tend to lack new experiences because they are constantly in the same conditions. Children experiencing sensory deprivation have underdeveloped motor skills, speech development lag, and mental lag [9] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Sensory deprivation // Soviet Military Encyclopedia . - M .: Military Publishing House of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, 1980. - T. 7. - S. 325.
- ↑ Stuart Grassian Psychiatric effects of solitary confinement , September 1993, Madrid v. Gomez, 889F.Supp. 114.
- ↑ Karen Franklin Segregation Psychosis Archived October 5, 2010.
- ↑ Harold I. Schwartz, Death Row Syndrome and Demoralization: Psychiatric Means to Social Policy Ends J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 33: 2: 153-155 (2005)
- ↑ Leave no Marks. Enhanced Interrogation Techniques and the Risk of Criminality . - Human Rights First & Physicians for Human Rights, 2007 .-- ISBN 1-879707-53-5 .
- ↑ Sensory deprivation: how to increase your creativity and clear your mind? . lpgenerator.ru. Date of treatment July 4, 2017.
- ↑ What is Sensory Deprivation? Sensory deprivation is ... Self-knowledge.ru . samopoznanie.ru. Date of treatment July 4, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 Sensory deprivation - description . psyfactor.org. Date of treatment July 4, 2017.
- ↑ Sensory deprivation: what it is, symptoms and treatment . depressio.ru. Date of treatment July 4, 2017.