The growing problem of isolation tank addiction (I.T.A.) was highlighted this week on the popular TV show Fringe. Olivia Dunham (played by Anna Torv) was introduced to the isolation tank (aka sensory deprivation tank) in the first episode by renegade scientist Walter Bishop (played by John Noble) in a novel attempt to make headway in a criminal investigation. This week’s episode (The Dreamscape) is the 3rd time that Dunham enters the tank, and is the first time we see the signs of her growing addiction to its powerful effects. At the end of the episode, a visibly agitated Olivia visits Dr. Bishop late at night and begs him to put her in the isolation tank, even though she had been floating in the tank earlier that same day.
A person’s first isolation tank experience is typically spent getting accustomed to the low gravity environment caused by a supersaturated Epsom saltwater solution. But even the novelty of floating weightless is a minor distraction compared to the giant burst of endorphins that are released during an isolation tank session. People whose brains are lacking endorphins are inadequately prepared for the euphoric effect of this feel-good neurochemical. With repeated use, some people may find themselves craving the experience to a degree that would be classified as an addiction. Its unknown what percentage of the population is lacking endorphins.
A high incidence of I.T.A. was seen by early researchers of the isolation tank, and so several people responded to the problem by promoting disinformation about the isolation tank. The most common disinformation that exists to this day is that the isolation tank causes people to hallucinate. The most ironic untruth that also persists to this day is that the isolation tank experience is boring and uneventful. The success of this falsehood is thanks in large part to the term "sensory deprivation tank", which was originally coined to discourage the general population from discovering the tank’s powerful euphoric effects, thereby risking a widespread compulsion for the experience.
This calculated fear mongering reached a crescendo with the release of the 1980 science fiction movie Altered States. In it, Professor Eddie Jessup (played by William Hurt) combined hallucinogenic drugs with isolation tank sessions with the goal of achieving higher consciousness. Instead of attaining enlightenment, Jessup devolves into a caveman who attacks people and feeds on the raw flesh of wild animals.
As ridiculous as its premise was, Altered States was successful at making the general population afraid of the isolation tank, and served to stem the tide of increasing interest of the medical community in the isolation tank from. This was a major coup, because the isolation tank was being successfully used for enhanced athletic performance by professional sports teams such as the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia Phillies, the Australian Olympic team, US Olympic track star Carl Lewis and Ironman champion Peter Reid. These benefits were featured in Time magazine and other national and international media outlets.
Without the widespread fear inspired by Altered States, as well as the disinformation campaign that associated the isolation tank with the sensory deprivation tactics used by the CIA and in brainwashing experiments at McGill University ( for more info), all of the positive press combined with the proven health benefits of the isolation tank inevitably would have resulted in the isolation tank becoming accepted by the medical community, exposing millions of innocent people to potential addiction.
Recent efforts to use the internet to combat decades-old disinformation campaigns have been taken up by people whose health has improved thanks to the therapeutic benefits of the isolation tank. Floatforhealth.com is one such example. The author used the isolation tank to eliminate six years of progressively debilitating sciatic pain, putting an end to medication use. Floatforhealth.com cites several research articles that validate the many health benefits of the isolation tank, while also archiving four decades of media coverage into the athletic, health, mental and emotional benefits of the isolation tank. Fortunately, floatforhealth.com has only attracted a little over 100,000 visitors, a drop in the bucket compared to the millions of people worldwide who for decades have been led to believe that the isolation tank is something to be feared. We can only hope that this disinformation remains the dominant perception, for the sake of the many people who might unwittingly succumb to isolation tank addiction.