Scared of the dark? A 1960s experiment reveals simple trick to overcome fear
Scientists locked a group of men in total blackout for 48 hours. While most lost their minds, a single participant stayed calm throughout.
In the 1960s, scientists placed a group of people in total blackout for 48 hours. In 2008, the BBC conducted a similar experiment; they brought in six volunteers and placed them in separate pitch-black soundproofed rooms with no human contact for 48 hours. Surprisingly, while all other participants grew anxious and almost broke down immediately, Adam Bloom survived the challenge relatively easily. He didn't do anything extraordinary; in fact, Bloom told The Independent that the only thing that helped him was continued conversation with himself. Later, neurologists conducted an extensive study on this particular phenomenon and identified it as "mental grounding."
While the BBC brought in six volunteers in total, only three were filmed on camera. Bloom and other participants were locked in different cells for 48 hours, with nothing except a bed, a desk, a chair, two microphones, and several infrared cameras. The participants were given food from time to time in their cells and were allowed to take bathroom breaks, where they were exposed to light for a few minutes. If anyone felt uncomfortable or anxious at any point, they were allowed to leave the experiment midway, Bloom explained. Notably, Professor Ian Robbins and Tim Green, a forensic psychologist, led the experiment in 2008. A few minutes into the experiment, Bloom experienced boredom. He said he accepted that he had to entertain himself to survive the challenge, so that's what he did. Bloom started talking to himself and to the crew, who he knew could see him or hear him. "In my time alone in the dark, I experienced several things. I laughed, cried, sang, joked, went over recent conversations in my head, hallucinated (I clearly saw a huge pile of oyster shells — maybe 1,000 — on the floor next to my bed), ate, and slept," he recalled.
Bloom confessed he had a hard time remembering things after the experiment; in fact, he couldn't focus when someone was speaking to him. Although he said he would never want to participate in such an experiment, it made him appreciate the little things in life, like nature, his senses, and all forms of interaction. But why does speaking out loud about internal experiences comfort people during such vulnerable or anxious situations? Well, it is called "mental grounding." When anxiety hits, we can easily bring our minds back toward tranquillity instead of letting it spiral into catastrophic thinking, explains a blog post by Mindtalk. For example, when you feel like, "I can't do it," you constantly remind yourself, "This looks difficult, but I have handled difficult situations before, and this too shall pass." In a challenging situation, our body reacts faster; in fact, we may experience our heart racing faster or changes in breathing patterns. But when we start giving simultaneous updates and reassurance, our brain stops treating the feeling like an emergency.
Similarly, a survey aimed to find out how many people engage in self-talk in four types of situations: feeling critical of oneself, needing to prepare for what to say or do, wanting to feel better, or feeling pleased with oneself. The survey found that 61% of the time, people turn to self-talk in such situations, and only 2 participants (1%) reported never using distanced or immersed self-talk across the two-week study period. Moreover, it was found that 14.5% of the time, people talked to themselves from a more distant point of view. In fact, the percentage was higher (around 20%) in situations where people wanted to comfort themselves or were being critical.
Mental grounding is also a major part of military training. In high-stress environments, soldiers constantly communicate, giving real-time updates; this isn't just part of their protocol but a significant tactic to help them regulate their emotions. During panic situations, they are advised to use grounding phrases such as "shoot-move-communicate," etc., to avoid spiraling into paralyzing emotions, Human Performance Resources by CHAMP (HPRC) noted.
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