Sensory deprivation makes it impossible for a person to use one or more of their senses. Sensory deprivation devices can be simple, like blindfolds or hoods, which make it impossible to see. More complicated sensory deprivation devices can cut off a person's sense of smell, touch, taste, thermoception (ability to sense heat), and their sense of gravity.
Sensory deprivation can be used in good or bad ways. If a person chooses to go through sensory deprivation for a short time, they may feel relaxed, and it may be easier for them to meditate. However, if a person is forced to go through sensory deprivation, or the deprivation lasts for a long time, it can cause hallucinations, very bad anxiety, strange thoughts, and depression.
Some countries in NATO have used sensory deprivation techniques on prisoners because these techniques do not qualify as torture under international laws.
Restricted environmental stimulation therapy (REST) uses sensory deprivation to help a person relax and treat problems like pain. The sensory deprivation sessions are short, and the person can choose to stop the session at any time. There are two basic kinds of REST.
In Chamber REST, a person lies on a bed in a completely dark, sound-proof room for up to 24 hours. They have food, drink, and a toilet in the room with them. They can choose to leave the room at any time. However, fewer than 10% of people who go through Chamber REST actually leave the room before 24 hours.
Flotation REST uses a tank or pool filled with warm water and Epsom salts. The Epsom salts make the water so dense that a person floats in the tank like they do not weigh anything. People usually stay in a flotation tank (also called an isolation tank for about an hour. Less than 5% of people leave the flotation tank before the hour has passed.
Researchers in the United States and Sweden have found that flotation REST decreases pain and stress. Flotation REST also makes some people feel more creative, helps them solve problems more easily, and lowers their blood pressure.
Researchers have studied REST as a treatment for alcoholism, cigarette smoking, and the use of other drugs.
Studies that lasted from one to five years showed that 25% of smokers who used REST were able to stop smoking. If smokers also used other ways to stop smoking along with REST (like changing their behaviors), 50% were able to stop smoking. When smokers used REST and went to weekly support groups, 80% were able to stop smoking. (To compare, only 5% of smokers who use only a nicotine patch are able to stop smoking.)
Alcoholics who got two hours of REST, along with anti-alcohol educational messages, drank 56% less alcohol - less than half than they were drinking before - within two weeks. Three and six months after the first treatment, these alcoholics were still drinking 56% less alcohol than they did before REST.
The University of Arizona studied the use of chamber REST to treat substance abuse. They treated one group of people with both REST and regular substance abuse treatment. 43% of these people stopped using drugs and were still drug-free after four years. They treated another group with regular substance abuse treatment, but no REST. None of these people were still drug-free after eight months.
Security forces in Northern Ireland used sensory deprivation on prisoners in the early 1970s. They used "the five techniques" of sensory deprivation on prisoners they suspected of belonging to paramilitary organizations:
In 1972, the United Kingdom formally stopped using these techniques to interrogate prisoners.
In 1976, the Irish government sued the United Kingdom in the European Commission on Human Rights (Ireland v. United Kingdom, 1976 Y.B. Eur. Conv. on Hum. Rts. 512, 748, 788-94 (European Commission of Human Rights)). Ireland argued that the "five techniques" were torture. The Commission agreed, and said that if the five techniques were used together, they ""amount to torture"". However, this decision was reversed on appeal.
In 1978, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) looked at the United Nations' definition of torture. They decided that the five techniques ""did not [cause] suffering of the particular intensity and cruelty implied by the word torture"". However, they also said the five techniques were ""a practice of inhuman and degrading treatment"", which is not allowed under the European Convention on Human Rights, article 3.
Willadingen
Willadingen is a municipality in the administrative district of Emmental in the canton of Berne in Switzerland.
Wimmis
Wimmis is a municipality in the administrative district of Frutigen-Niedersimmental in the canton of Berne in Switzerland.
Lanyard
A lanyard is a cord or strap. It is made to help the wearer keep and use some basic items of equipment, especially small items. It is usually worn around the neck with an ID card or keys.
Lanyards were first introduced in the 15th century. In the military, lanyards are worn on the shoulders of uniforms to denote the wearer's qualification or regimental affiliation.
Controlled flight into terrain
A controlled flight into terrain (CFIT, usually pronounced "cee-fit") is an accident in which an airworthy aircraft, under pilot control, is unintentionally flown into the ground, a mountain, a body of water or an obstacle. In a typical CFIT scenario, the crew is not aware of the situation until it is too late to stop it. The term was coined by engineers at Boeing in the late 1970s.
Accidents where the aircraft is out of control at the time of impact, because of mechanical failure or pilot error, are not considered CFIT (they are known as "uncontrolled flight into terrain"). Accidents resulting from the deliberate action of the person flying the aircraft, such as acts of terrorism or suicide by pilot.
According to Boeing, CFIT is a leading cause of airplane accidents involving the loss of life. It has caused over 9,000 deaths since the beginning of the commercial jet age. CFIT was identified as a cause of 25% of USAF Class A mishaps between 1993 and 2002.
Savio (river)
The Savio () is a river that starts in the Apennines mountain and flows to east into the Adriatic Sea. It is the longest river of the Romagna region.
The Savio river has a length of , and a drainage basin with an area of approximately .
Its discharge (volume of water which passes through a section of the river per unit of time) depends of the season: in the autumn could be as high as 1,000 cubic metres per second but is very low during summer. Most of the time, the discharge is about 6 cubic metres per second.
The Savio river starts, with the name of "Fosso Grosso", in the Mount Fumaiolo, a mountain in the Apennines, at an elevation of about , in the commune of Verghereto, in the border between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna regions. At its source there is monument with symbols that represent the Romagna region and the Verghereto commune.
In "Montecoronaro", a "frazione" (an Italian subdivision of a municipality) of Verghereto, the river takes the name of "Savio". The river flows through the communes of Bagno di Romagna and San Piero in Bagno and, after a few kilometres, it forms an artificial reservoir, the "Lago di Quarto", where it is joined, on the right side, by its first important tributary, the stream "Para".
It flows through the communes of Sarsina, Mercato Saraceno and Cesena, all in the province of Forlì-Cesena. In "Botello" (a "frazione" of Cesena), it is joined on the left side by its main tributary, the stream "Botello". Then it goes into the province of Ravenna and flows through "Castiglione di Cervia" (commune of Cervia) and "Castiglione di Ravenna" (commune of Ravenna).
Finally, after 126 kilometres, it flows into the Adriatic Sea between Lido di Classe, a seaside resort, and Lido di Savio.
The tributaries of the Savio are all small streams; the main are the Botello, left tributary, and Para, coming from the right.
Alexander Dubček