I have done some things in caves like with groups in caves like that dont have nice little walk ways and lights and stuff like that. I mean like bolders all over the place and crawling around. But recently I went with my family to a cavern in Virgina and the guide turned off the light to show some people how dark it is in a cave way way below ground. Then the man said that if you were in the darkness of a cave for about a week you would go crazy...I think it was 2 days. Now the question is. How does one go crazy if he or she is in a cave in the darkness (no light at all) for a few days? I just dont understand that.
Your guide is either a liar or a moron. You would become disoriented and confused, I'm sure. But not 'crazy'.
Maybe if you have nothing hear, or see you might go crazy but not within 2 or 3 days that dosent seem right.
I now remember what the guide said. He said something like this "Your mind and eyes wouldnt be able to adjust to the extream darkness. But I dont understand how that could make someone snap.
I think i found an answer. "Well, humans as a species are very reliant on their vision to interpret our existance. With people who are actually blind, they have other people to assist them with adapting to their new existance, and even then it is very difficult; more difficult than I could imagine. Being lost in a cave that is so dark a person cannot see could be like going blind. One person having to deal with this alone, could push a person over the edge to insanity."
If they're weak little pussies. I repeat. Your guide is full of shit. You'd be disoriented and confused due to a disruption of circadian rythms and possibly vitamin deficiency and whatnot but you would not go crazy from just a few days in the dark. However, you might hallucinate a bit. People go into sensory deprivation tanks and hallucinate after an hour or so. In the dark for days, your eyes would probably play tricks on you. Waking dreams and such. But, you would not actually 'go crazy'. That's my opinion.
There was a case of someone who was swallowed by a whale that was harpooned a couple of days later and he was crazy when they got him out. His skin was also bleached from the stomach acid. A whale's stomach would be alot more claustrophobic and horrible than a cave though. I think he eventually came right again, enough to explain how hot and humid and suffocating it is in a whales stomach at least.
I have a friend who two years ago tried out for the green berets but dropped out. He said that they had a drill where the canidates were to crawl through a tunnel...on their hands and knees about 300 yards or so out onto an obstacle course. No flashlights were allowed. He made it just fine but he said he kept coming up on fellow soidiers who were crying or too afraid to move...he would say "get it together soidier!" but few did. He told me that it was a standard part of the test because a good number of them (over 10 % he thinks) would freeze up and be unable to respond. claustropobia may play a part in freezing up while in a cave.
I too enjoyed caving ( we call it pot-holing in the UK) and do concur with your guide that absolute pitch black really is a strange state that could very easily lead to feel crazy (disorientation and confusion - the loss of one's senses). I cannot participate these days because of a car accident unfortunately. You have to experience it to believe it though. If you shut your eyes there is light because of the reactions behind your closed lids, but not be able to see at all with eyes open for an extended period would probably drive you crazy after a while. I dont intend on finding out but it was fun to kill the lights when a hundred feet below. I had a habit of making intricately detailed clay slugs with little antennae and placing them along the less travelled routes as a guide for new cavers. People should'nt be so quick to dismiss the words of this guide. He is not telling you these things cos he likes the sound of his own voice but rather to inform you of something he himself has learned. peace c20
Geeze. Have you ever had the glory of being stuck in a populated place during a black out? You would think the planet screeched to a halt. Everybody is all nervous and delicate and annoyed, and running helter skelter for the nearest candle.
Thats why we have something like 5 working torches easily available in the house. Theres people whove stayed underground for months on end, but I assume they had light. Any news stories or suchlike about trapped miners who've been without light? Or trapped cavers?
I think I have been in that cave! was there a little stream? with blind fish? anyway... just going to work every day can make some people crazy, so its not too hard to imagine that complete darkness and claustrophobia would be a strong push in that direction. the cave I went to had 2 kids trapped in there for like 2 days, they followed the water out, I am guessing they didn’t snap if they were smart enough to follow the water.
I went to Shanandoah Caverns in Virgina thats where the guide said that. But then Ive been in real caves like one mistake you fall in a big ass pit kind of cave in West Virgina "Trout Cave" it might have been called Old Trout but i dont remember
Yeah, but these people are trained and conditioned to a certain extent to deal with the unexpected. I think this thread is about the rabble who freak when they see a bat.
In a complete darkness you would lose the sense of time,and become very confused after a while,you wouldnt know if you slept one minute or an hour or a day,and with nothing else to do but sleep,it would be pretty stresfull,and depresing no doubt. Ive heard couple weeks would be the most the mind/brain could take under such conditions before turning to mush.
I suppose that your guide has never heard of the northern and southern parts of the globe... where it stays dark much longer.
... and people wear lightbulbs on their heads to avoid going insane. Also, it's not that dark, not the kind of dark where you can't see a thing and don't know where you are. I personally wouldn't go insane trapped inside a tight cave for a couple of days, but I could if I wanted to, it would be rougher than you think and it would be very easy to panic. I'm sure many or probably even most people would lose control and flip out. Not permanently, but they'd freak the fuck out pretty badly and be hysterical when they finally were found.
