Can Flotation Therapy help with anxiety? | AD

This article looks at whether floatation can be an effective way to treat anxiety.

What is Floating?

Floatation involves lying in a floatation tank, a large, egg-shaped pod filled with highly concentrated Epsom saltwater heated to skin temperature. It is also known as Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST) and sensory deprivation as you are deprived of all senses - sound, sight, smell, taste, and touch. The tank is completely lightless and soundless and the Epsom saltwater causes you to float as you feel free from gravity.

Experience in the Tank

Whilst in the tank, you are freed of all external stimuli as you float weightlessly in the darkness and silence. Floating activates the parasympathetic nervous system which slows the heart rate and helps you to relax. Your brain reaches its lucid, not-thinking alpha state and any anxious thoughts dissipate. You then enter a theta state, a deep state of relaxation and meditation, a half-sleep state reached just before drifting off to sleep or waking up.

Floating and Anxiety - The Evidence

Justin Feinstein is a clinical neuropsychologist who investigates float therapy as a treatment for those with anxiety and depression. He carried out a study in which he mapped the brains of participants using fMRI and then took images again after a 60-minute float. He found that floating quietens the activity of the amygdala, the part of the brain which controls fear and anxiety.

A 2018 study on 50 participants with stress and anxiety-related disorders found that a one-hour session in a floatation tank can provide relief from stress and anxiety symptoms across a range of conditions including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Generalised Anxiety Disorder.

A 2016 study of 46 people with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) found that 12 floatation sessions over 4 months reduced symptoms of GAD including depression, fatigue, and sleep issues and 37% reached full remission of GAD symptoms post-treatment.

A 2006 study investigated the long-term effects of floatation-REST 4 months after treatment. Participants with stress-related pain underwent 12 float sessions and found that floating reduced pain, stress, anxiety, and depression and this was maintained for 4 months after treatment.

A 2014 study looked at sensory isolation and floatation treatment as a preventive healthcare intervention. The study found that 12 float sessions over 7 weeks decreased stress, depression, anxiety, and pain in healthy volunteers.

One 2013 study assessed a single patient with PTSD, ADHD, autism, anxiety, and depression who floated over 50 times for a year and a half. The floatation therapy improved quality of life, wellbeing, and healthy behaviour and there were no negative effects. The participant did not take any medication during the course of the therapy.

Whilst there needs to be further studies into whether floating can be used as an effective therapy for anxiety, these studies demonstrate the promising impact that floating can have on treating anxiety and mental health. This is evidence that floating is scientifically proven to have a positive impact on the mind.

This post was written by i-sopod, a revolutionary float pod manufacturer and market-leading supplier to float centres in the UK, USA, Europe and Australia.