Sensory Deprivation

Not sure anyone will be able to help on this or not, but I am looking for some treatments for Sensory Deprivation. One of my characters spent 7 years locked in a sensory deprivation tank as a form of torture. The characters who release him want to take him with them because he's too weak to take care of himself. However he reacts poorly to touch, light, sound and the feeling of the blanket they wrap him in is too rough. It took them ten minutes to drag him, on the blanket, 50 yards to a temporary camp. The next day, they HAVE to move on, regardless of his reactions to things, but it just seems like it would be more torture to me, and it might truly be, I don't know... but I was wondering if anyone had ideas on how they could help him.

I've hunted on ask.com, google and wikipedia and I've only found mention of sensory deprivation used as torture. Mostly, they claim its used as a relaxation technique. Where I HAVE found information, on it as a torture, there is no information about what's done to help someone through it. Under SID, also known as Sensory Integration Disorder, I found weighted blankets are used. Any help could be appreciated.

dolores haze said:

I think I can help a little - I've worked with people with sensory disorders, as well as people who have been institutionalized for lengthy periods of time.

I would assume that the sensory deprivation tank was dark? In this case, the individual would find light overwhelming, even painful. A mask or fabric wrapped around the eyes would help. He would have to very gradually get used to light again.

People that haven't been touched in many years might find the touch of another human overwhelming, unpleasant or unbearable. They would gradually have to re-acclimate themselves to touch. Rough fabrics would be difficult. I'm assuming the individual was kept in the tank naked? One fella I know can only stand to wear soft cotton.

Sounds would also be quite overwhelming. Again, covering the ears and gradually getting used to sounds again would help.

If the tank was small and the individual was unable to move around much, his muscles would have atrophied. It would take one heck of a physical therapy regimen to get him going again and would have to be gradual.

How was this individual fed? Possibly on a very bland and textureless diet? Food, then, would also take some getting used to. Strong flavors and actual textures could be overwhelming.

In a sensory deprivation environment, people have a tendency to evolve stange behaviors - anything they can do to get any kind of sensory input is possible. One lady I knew used to bite herself; another used to slap herself; yet another used to regurgitate her food and then have good old play with it. Smearing feces, drinking urine, chronic masturbation are other examples - basically body-centred stimulation.

If it was me trying to help this dude I would keep him as sensory deprived as I could until I got him to a more controlled environment, then I'd slowly start reintroducing everything. Of course, it might be too late. If he has managed to keep his sanity there is hope. If not...there could be improvement, but a complete comeback would be very, very difficult and he may suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome for the rest of his life.

Hope this helps a little. I'll revisit the thread if you have any specific questions I might be able to help you with.

Good luck!

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Okay, yes, he was kept in the tank more or less naked. His clothes were torn from a beating before he was put in and basically disintegrated over the years as he grew as well, or matured rather; he was only 15 when he was first imprisoned. The tank was made of steel or some kind of metal and buried in the ground. The only things he could actually hear are the displacement of water when he moved, the wind if it howled or the rain or hail on the part of the tank above ground where the lid was. Except for a small air pocket by the lid so it doesn't over flow or leak when opened, the tank is fully filled with water and he's being kept alive by an air tube in the nose that also blocks out scent, and a food tube down his throat so he can't taste anything either. The tube down his throat provides not only food, but water as well in minimal amounts to keep him alive.

I'm already working with the fact that his muscles are atrified from lack of use. Not only has he endured the sensory deprivation torture and the beating before, but he's also witnessed the death of his parents and younger sister. After he was sealed in the tank, there was a mock execution where he heard the sound of the gunshot through the tank and therefore believes his younger brother to be dead as well. So he's been haunted by those memories and driven by the desire for revenge against the man who attacked his family and imprisoned him. He seeks him out later.

dgiharris said:

great advice,

don't think I could add much to that.

The only thing that was missed was the probability that your person would be stark raving MAD after being locked up for 7 years.

7 Years in isolation is a long time. Most people start to lose their marbles after just 7 days of isolation.

And when I say MAD, I mean stark-raving-looney-get-the-white-jackets sorta crazy.

Based on what is described above, not only would he be an invalid (physical atrophy is never fun) but he would be a crazy invalid requiring months if not years of mental and physical therapy.

Now, maybe you can mitigate the craziness by giving him some social contact throughout his isolation or, rendering him unconscious through most of it. THe latter is probably your best mitigation that would be in keeping with his isolation. So then instead of completely crazy he is just a little crazy.

good luck, hope this helps

Mel...

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Hmmm.... well, that makes me think the writers of Tin Man just pulled things out of their ass - which I don't want to do...

After 8 years being locked in the suit, they have Wyatt Cain this buff gunslinger going around getting in bar brawls with Long Coats, running and jumping off cliffs, and walking great distances over short periods of time unaided - all of this in a matter of days from his release.

Yeah... I want mine story to be more realistic than that...

What I was thinking of doing was having the character from the party of four who rescued him and stayed behind while the others continued holding him and kind of caressing his arms to get him used to touch, explaining that he wasn't actually hurting him but that his mind had scrambled the way he interpreted sensation because of the amount of time he'd been in the tank - but yeah, that kinda felt like another form of torture to me, and not sure that's how it's actually done or not.

dolores haze said:

Good Lord, Glitchie! I thought that *I* was good at doling out cruel and unusual punishment to my characters, but you've got me beat.

Is this sci-fi? You have the techie stuff sorted out? Otherwise, the poor dude will be spending years floating around in his own bodily wastes. If you've ever seen a nasty case of diaper rash you'll know that urine is NOT kind to the human body.

And the guy is gonna come out of there completely insane. I wouldn't want him catching up with me!

Try googling for some reports/studies on solitary confinement. It should garner you some pretty hideous details.

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HAHAHA. ROFLMAO.

Okay... *catches breath* The point of this story is that it is based in Oz, about 200 years after Tin Man, but I couldn't mirror much from Tin Man itself as I've already contacted them for permissions to do a story with the Tin Man characters and they've declined my request. Which is why I came up with a different kind of isolation tank... about the only thing linking it to Tin Man now is the fact that one of the rescuer characters is head cased.

Tank tech - yeah, I have... I kinda figure that it has a pump attached in the ground to pump the junk in the water out at the same time refilling it with clean water and it would happen on a daily basis.

backslashbaby said:

He'd have to get an infection, or rot or something, in the water that long, wouldn't he? I vaguely remember a (true) story of torture where the people's feet were basically rotting because of standing in water for so many days.

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Yeah, I can see how it might, I mean if you stay too long in a bathtub the skin around your fingernails and toenails can begin peeling. What I was thinking of though was like a cloning tank... that may truly be science fiction but well this is a scifi/fantasy story... I am just looking for something that is at least semi-plausible, not like a guy in perfect health other than a few hours of weakness after being isolated for 8 years who goes around running and jumping off cliffs and beating up people within a week of being released. I know I am definitely talking weeks and months, even a year or more...

I wonder, would the following be at least semi-plausible?

Two months after his release they find his brother, three months after that (a total of five months after his release) he ventures off away from his rescuers to pursue vengeance on the man who attacked his family and imprisoned him.

Is five months a fair estimate of being able to walk around on ones own, or would it be longer than that?

Cyia said:

Sorry, but that's not true sensory deprivation. If he can hear anything, he's got something to hold onto; his ears would have to be stopped. Likewise with the nose. Air from a ventilator has an odor to it, that's another sense in perfect working order. With a feeding tube, you've added back his sense of touch, the tubing and the movement of its contents are tangible things. Water is also a problem, even if the temp is kept constant, water doesn't just cause material to disintegrate, it does the same to skin.

Extended - true - sensory deprivation leads the person to turn inward for stimulus where they aren't getting it from the outside - which is why it can theoretically bring up repressed memories. The human body/brain must have stimuli and it will get it where it can. Painful memories, happy ones, anything and everything. In true sensory deprivation, you can forget self inflicted pain or pleasure, too - the person can't move at all. They're floating in a void with nothing to guide them.

After the brain realizes that it can't get anything from the outside, he'd start hallucinating to the point that he'd believe that his memories were really happening again, maybe jumbled, but it would be all he had.

He wouldn't be able to hear a gunshot outside, to to be made to believe that his brother was killed, all of that ruins the effects of the deprivation.

The constant submergence of his naked body would kill him, after his skin was worn away by the water, he'd bleed out.



This is another - glaring - no go. As soon as the water level changed then he'd be yanked out of deprivation again.

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Hmm.... well, the part with the mock execution of his brother isn't written down yet... they just got him out of the tank. Maybe it's not water he's in, but some kind of liquid with a preserving effect. The changing level of the contents could possibly be used to trigger a fear of "This is it, it's over, I'm going to drown." Either way, I'd have to keep some way of keeping him alive - he's in a tank with limited oxygen. Without the nose tube, he'd die right away as soon as there was more carbon dioxide and he ran out of breathable air.

Cyia said:

This is sci-fi, get creative. Synthetic vitamin and protein rich plasma/placental environment that he breathes like a fetus in-utero. The substance keeps the skin in tact, feeds his body nutrients and makes sure he doesn't suffocate.

Imagination -- stretch it (or just watch the Island)

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Mmm, yeah, LOL *shrug* This is some form of punishment though - he was in the resistance, charged with high treason to the crown as it states on the outside of the tank along with his name. The 'Queen' that he is said to be resisting was looking for the lost treasure of Emerald City (it is Oz based like I said ). She killed her older brother to assure she was next in line for the throne of Oz, and the Queen (her mother that she overthrew ) sent the younger sister away with her handmaiden and a tutor for her protection. Yeah, it is similar to what goes on in Tin Man, but there are more characters in play etc so its not exactly identical. Anyway, he was imprisoned for not aiding in some way to locating the emeralds that the 'Queen' is looking for... And in fact, the 'queen' is looking for the wrong thing to begin with, LOL.

What is the Island? Never heard of it... LOL

LOL This of course means a whole new rewrite of what I have so far (6 pages in) and yeah, 6 pages might not be a whole lot, but well, when dealing with the workings of the plot, describing what is going on and trying to establish a sympathy or link with this character right off, it makes it tough to then be on a time frame - I am trying to get as much of the story done as I can for when I got see an IP attorney on Monday to make sure I'm not impeding someone's copyright... so yeah, trying to pull as much away from Tin Man as I can, so far the only link I actually have to it now, is one of the rescuers of this character is head cased.

But yes, this would cause some complications still... In the opening of the story, I have him semi aware of that there is something going on outside, trying to build a sympathy for him. If he is in this plasma, wouldn't he be in stasis and unconscious? If that is the case, I have to find some other way of hooking the reader into the story and because at the moment, he leads my opening paragraph which is:

He shuddered as the water surrounding him became cooler against his skin. Fall must have been setting in outside his dark prison. He rarely heard anything here but the howl of the wind and the hammering of rain above unless he moved, and then he could hear the displacement of water for a few moments. How long had he been here? He couldn't remember. He swallowed thickly, the tube in his throat making it ache to do so. He blinked in the darkness as something changed; a new sound outside making the ground send a vibration through the water and he stilled listening as hard as he could. Willing himself to focus on the vibrations as they came closer. Footsteps. He blinked again when they vibrations stopped, his heart hammering in his chest, but nothing happened, and for a moment, he lost hope.

---

I use the reference of He as a descriptor because over the time of not hearing his name, he could have forgotten it... at least, that was what I was thinking, lol, because one of the rescuers calls him by name (it was on the outside of the tank with his crime) and he looks at them like he doesn't know what they're talking about. This reveals a lost sense of self. Anyway, all this information is useful and is giving me some ideas.... I wonder, would it be plausible to have his mind altered through subliminal means, controlled dreams, dreams of his family, that kind of thing? Think I'm talking brain washing here.

Cool, will do... just finished editing the beginnings of chapter one again... got all the water and tube references out... leaving some of the hearing ones though because they say even babies can hear inside the womb... but the hearing is limited.

dgiharris said:

I'm not sure I got the total gist of this,

but you mentioned something about this being in the Land of OZ, a few hundred years into the future?

My spidey sense tells me that this may be problematic. I'm not a big fan of stories that try to leverage previous mega-hit stories. I think you run into serious problems of ownership, acceptance by a publisher, and reader preconceived expectations.

My thoughts are that you should just create your world completely from scratch. If your world is 'Oz-like' that is fine, but if you world is Oz, that is a problem IMHO.

Mel...

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Actually, Oz itself, Baum's Oz and the some of Thompson's Oz that followed, are public domain.... the only issue would be with being too close to Tin Man - which is why I have an IP attorney to help me. I am trying to pull the story as far from Tin Man as I possibly can as I go through writing. So far, the only problem is that one of my characters is head cased also... but that may not be much of a problem - I am using the concept that Tin Man set up, yes, but I am not using Tin Man characters. Aside from that, I have my own running theme in the story which centers around the head cased character and Ethan who he helped rescue that involves Plato's symposium. Basically though, I wanted to do a story set in Oz because the possibilities are endless there....There have been hundreds of books written that are set in Oz, the parameters of the world are so broad. Most people only know the scope of Baum's classic, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but there are in fact 40 books that are deemed as Oz canon.... 15 are by Baum himself, then there are some by Ruth Plumly Thompson, John R. Neill, Jack Snow, Rachael R. Cosgrove and collaborative works by Eloise Jarvis McGraw and Lauren Lynn McGraw. Then of course, you have the Wicked series by Gregory Maguire, but there are literally hundreds of others.

quixote100104 said:

If you do stay in Oz ar an Oz-like world, don't forget that you have magic as a resource as well, which can smooth over a lot of RW rough edges. So your immersion solution can simply become a potion tailored to the needs of the task.

A few comments on deprivation/isolation coping to consider. First, I recall on several occasions reading that military personnel were taught a mental construction technique where, when confined as POWs, they would concentrate their attention on visualizing building something. A car, a house, whatever, focusing on picturing every act of the task, every nail, screw, etc. The idea being, of course, to fight off depression and lethergy. In an extreme case like this, if the person is of a creative bent, perhaps as a defense mechanism they might create a world to inhabit. A fantasy world, I'd say, where they have full reign over all aspects and don't need a lot of RW knowlege to make it 'realistic'. I'm no psychologist but, as a reader, I would buy a well constructed explaination that someone's sanity was preserved by imagining themselves transported to a fantasy world and living there for years, doing interesting things. The key, I think would be 'transported to', preserving the link to thier past life and the option, in their own mind, of return. Otherwise, they'd probably end up catatonic, a permanent resident of thier new world.

If they were floating in a tank that permitted movement, that might also mitigate some of the muscle atrophy problems, as they thrashed and moved in response to thier 'dream' stimuli. This might also be a way around the issue of the limited stimuli you couldn't block and keep them alive (though again, magic could be tailored to produce the ideal SD enviornment without physical support in the form of technology). Such perceptions, tying them to physical reality, might end up being deliberately ignored by the brain seeking sanity in fantasy, as impediments to the maintenance of the illusion.

Another possibility might be an 'imaginary friend' to talk to. As has been pointed out, in full SD there would be no way to hear anything, but they could 'hear' it in thier head. and, if you are comfortable with the notion of psi in your setting, maybe the friend is not 'imaginary' after all. Maybe they really are someone else's 'imaginary friend'....

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Hmmm..... yes, I like that psi concept very much.... In fact, I think that would work well with the concept I want to incorporate in my story.... And yes, I was thinking even with the plasma substance of some way controlling his memories in a sense... so the plasma itself might be imbued with magic for that purpose... Thank you very much, this was quite helpful!

quixote100104 said:

You're quite welcome . Glad to be of service!

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LOL now I just got to figure out a good way of opening the story... I have til tomorrow night to get as much done as I can...

Glitchie said:

LOL now I just got to figure out a good way of opening the story... I have til tomorrow night to get as much done as I can...

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Well, I haven't gotten chapter one of the story rewritten completely but I've posted what I have done currently on the SYW fantasy page under Child of the Sun - its at the bottom of the tread because I didn't want to just edit the first entry, and couldn't figure out how to delete it nor did I want to clutter the board with a second version of the thread. I hope this version came out better than the first...