#so I'm not potentially depriving the world of something historically significant | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

scripttorture · 5 years

Note

I read your ask about eyes and I braved this little medical ask that can possibly change a bit of my plot... I have a character who's kept in a cellar (spacious, toilet, sink, mattress) and it's usually well lit, with a working heating system. They're kept confined for about a year, kept in contact with only their abductor who visits for a few hours a day. I read your solitary confinement post and the effects are taken care of. But I'm wondering what a punishment like turning off... (1/2)

(2/2) Turning off the electricity can do to them physically? Their torturer punishes them whenever they misbehave by turning off the electricity, keeping them in pitch darkness and freezing climate. I honestly have no idea how that can affect them during the abduction period and after, so if this isn’t too medical, would you give advice on this type of scenario? Thank you..

This isn’t too medically. :) I haven’t covered temperature torture in a while.

So this actually maps pretty directly on to some real world abuses in prisons, both modern and historical. Though I’m unaware of it being done specifically by cutting off electricity.

Generally it was done by simply not turning the heating on in the first place, rendering the heating system unusable, depriving prisoners of blankets and warm clothing. The British also enforced regimes of ice cold showers in some prisons and didn't provide towels.

Given the sort of set up you seem to have I’d saying doing it by turning off the electricity seems realistically simple.

I am honestly unsure what the effect of prolonged periods of darkness would be. There are a few accounts of things like this happening to people but I’m unaware of any sufficiently detailed analysis.

It isn’t sensory deprivation so the effects are not going to be that extreme.

But it would be incredibly distressing for most people.

I think the best way to imagine it is in terms of increasing the character’s stress and hence adding to the long term psychologically symptoms. Basically making those symptoms worse.

The feeling of helplessness and lack of control over their own life/circumstances- it’s the kind of thing that feeds into conditions like depression, anxiety and so forth.

I think that it’s possible that over the long term it could damage the character’s eyesight. But I’m unsure how long the character would have to be kept in the dark (or dim light) for that to happen.

The lack of heating is an easier one. It’s well studied.

The last ask I had on low temperatures is this one, I think you’ll find it useful.

The impression I get from accounts is that most temperature tortures stop at the first stage of hypothermia. It can go much further but that means the victim is much more likely to die.

I think given the set up you have so long as the heating isn’t turned off for days or weeks at a time the character is unlikely to die from cold. Though- that does depend a little on the climate. There’s a significant difference between no heating in an Arctic winter and no heating in the south of France.

I think you can probably use common sense to tell how at risk your character is over a short period of time.

Assuming the character doesn’t go beyond the first stage of hypothermia-

They’ll be in pain. Initially they’ll experience- well things you’re probably familiar with from ordinary levels of cold. Shivering, pain, feeling cold to the touch. Some people appear visibly paler. I get joint aches, I’ve never really adjusted to the cold.

The heart rate increases, people breath faster and blood vessels contract to limit blood flow to the extremities. Those are all adaptions to conserve heat. This is part of early stage hypothermia.

As this progresses they’ll get tired and start to become more confused. The character might also struggle with complex motor skills, anything fiddly using their hands. Their movements will slow.

Some people report that rewarming is painful. But a lot of people (especially with more severe hypothermia) experience some degree of delirium and memory loss.

I’m not sure whether there’s any clear evidence on whether repeated exposure to cold actually increases infection rates or not. Anecdotally a lot of people assume it does. But I’m not sure whether this is true or not.

Beyond the physical, there are the general long term effects of torture. I get the impression you’ve already looked at them but here’s the Masterpost again.

The main thing this scenario keeps making me think of is the way it emphasises the victim’s lack of control over their situation. That feeling of helplessness, and things that encourage it, is something that comes up again and again in accounts of solitary confinement.

I can’t say with any certainty whether this would make symptoms worse then hypothermia produced another way. My instinct is that any clinical difference wouldn’t be significant.

But this sort of thing stays with survivors. Sitting in the dark shivering, not knowing when or if the power will come back on, not being able to do anything about it- It’s the sense of powerlessness so many survivor accounts focus on and return to.

How they go on to process the experience is up to you. You could turn aspects of this scenario into triggers, although you don’t have to (triggers are impossible to predict). You could keep it as a moment of terror, waking up in the dark years later and thinking for a moment they never left that room.

You could also turn into something they actively try to fight against. Because it’s predictable. They can learn to navigate their cell in the dark. They can learn how to do everything they can to keep warm. And they can keep those behaviours later, long after they cease to be empowering.

I think I’m going to leave it there. You’ve got a strong scenario. It’s possible and it has a lot of narrative potential.

I hope this helps. :)

Availableon Wordpress.

Disclaimer

#Anonymous #tw torture #clean torture #solitary confinement #temperature torture #hypothermia

19 notes · View notes