From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@datamann.com)
Date: Sun Jul 08 2001 - 15:58:55 MDT
Spike Jones wrote:
>
> > > Spike Jones wrote: start with a xeronaut who *already has* permanent
> > > psychological damage. Perhaps new breathing medium would then
> > > cause psychological repair! I volunteer. spike
> >
> > Mike Lorrey wrote: I wasn't aware that you had become so familiar with the
> > gag reflex... ;)
>
> {8^D har. Seems like it could be suppressed with a carefully
> inserted plastic device, such as when they intubate patients on ER.
Well, the gag reflex is actually different from the problems they have
with these fluid breathing systems. It seems that the fear of drowning
induces a significant psychosis in most individuals, which isn't bad if
done once or twice, but doing it on a daily or weekly basis, apparently,
according to the backchannel info I've gotten, can build up to permanent
psychological damage.
As you may recall from 'The Abyss', the divers using the fluid systems
basically had to willfully drown themselves in the hypersaturated
solution. A similar problem presents itself with any significantly dense
breathing medium. Drowning is apparently not something the human animal
has evolved to do on a regular basis. As I said, there is research to
find drugs to suppress this reflex, as dramamine suppresses motion
sickness.
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