Gen Zen: I doubted the benefits of lying in a water pod with 600kg of salt. Floatation therapy surprised me

SINGAPORE — There is one thing that popular American television series The Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons and Stranger Things have in common. 
At some point, some of the characters of all three series lay in a pool of very salty water in silence and pitch darkness, for science and mental wellness. 
This intriguing practice, embraced by popular culture, is known as floatation therapy. 
The idea is simple: You plant yourself in an enclosed, temperature-controlled water tank filled with magnesium sulphate that causes you to float effortlessly and it deprives you of most of your senses.
You fall into a state of deep relaxation and then, an hour later, you step out with your stress levels down and any anxiety assuaged. 
I spoke to some people before I tried this therapy myself and they swore by its benefits, but I had my doubts. 
For one thing, just looking at a picture of a float pod induces anxiety. Drowning in a salty egg that I paid S$100 to be locked in would not be my ideal way to bow out. 
Yet, for someone who packs worries by the truckload on his shoulders for fun, I figured it might be worth a shot. After all, it does have the stamp of approval of The Big Bang Theory’s character Sheldon Cooper. 
There are two companies in Singapore that offer floatation therapy. Palm Ave Float Club has been around since 2013 and owns six pods, while Soma Haus recently added one to its repertoire of wellness offerings in 2022. 
I booked a session with the former and before I knew it, found myself suspended like a starfish in one of its chambers — housed within a private room with an accompanying shower. 
Float experts recommend wearing one’s birthday suit for an optimal and sensory-free experience. I duly obliged with the “dress code”, took a quick shower and stepped into the pod. 
The water temperature was controlled at a warm and pleasant 34.5°C, which made the initial settling-in experience a lot easier than if one tried to ease into a sauna or public pool. 
Fair warning, though: The salt would make its presence felt immediately by stinging at any small cuts you might have, but there is petroleum jelly available that you may apply on them before floating. 
Buttons on each side of the pod allowed me to control whether I wanted mellow coloured lights and calming music as I floated. It was also optional to shut the lid of the pod throughout the session.
Predictably, my overwhelming apprehension meant that I opted to leave the lid open and to turn on the melodies. After that, it didn’t take me long to feel snug and at ease.
At that point, the intrusion of the open lid and music felt more peeving than comforting so I shut the lid and went for silence. 
My eyes saw nothing and my ears heard only the voice of my own thoughts, which raced around for a bit before mellowing into a whisper. 
I soon became aware that I could not feel the ripple of the water on which my body was resting. The high Epsom salt content in the water meant that my skin did not prune up either. 
Quite literally shut off from the rest of the world, I focused on the air entering and leaving my lungs and drifted off for a brief moment. 
On Palm Ave Float Club’s website, it had described the experience as being in a “cocoon of peaceful stillness”. Frankly, I felt it wasn’t too far from the truth. 
Ms Jazlyn Koo, a 31-year-old communications professional who is a proponent of float therapy, told me that the practice had helped her to manage the mental breakdowns that she had experienced over the years. 
These meltdowns, Ms Koo said, tended to be triggered by over-stimulation in a world filled with countless distractions and information overload.
When she floats, “all that is stripped away,” she said. “It’s just you and your mind. You finally get to escape from everything that’s bombarding you.” 
Ms Koo used to go once a month. At that time, the frequency of her meltdowns was reduced “by half”. 
She has not gone back in several years in order to save on her expenses (a single float session costs about S$90).
“I haven’t found any other way that controls (the meltdowns) as well as floatation therapy,” she added. 
So far, anecdotally at least, it seems like the benefits of float therapy hold up. There have been several studies that examined its efficacy for mental health. 
One such study published in the peer-reviewed journal Plos One in 2018 involved 50 people with anxiety and depression. It found that all participants reported a substantial improvement in mood after the float. 
Another study published in April this year found that losing track of time and awareness of the boundaries of one’s body (known as body dissolution, which I experienced) improved anxiety symptoms and deep relaxation.
However, experts I interviewed said that further studies to document sustained positive changes with regular users of floatation therapy are needed to conclusively ascertain its effectiveness. 
And as with everything in life, there are some caveats and risks.
Ms Liew Shi Min, director and clinical psychologist at Heartscape Psychology, which provides services to improve mental health, said that people who struggle with solitude may find the experience of being alone with their thoughts a disturbing one.
“The lack of control of their physical environment can also be rather triggering for some of us who prefer more control over our surroundings.”
Ms Liew also said that people with claustrophobia should be very cautious about undertaking floatation therapy. 
Dr Joel Yang, a clinical psychologist at the psychological consultancy Mind What Matters, said that the placebo effect might be at play — where the expectation that one has of such an experience even before testing it can significantly influence the outcome that one has of such.
For my part, I certainly had my doubts before I made my virgin voyage into the pod of salt and darkness. In the end, I emerged (covered in salt crystals) refreshed, somewhat less stressed and wishing I could have had another five minutes. 
Ultimately, much like that one episode of The Big Bang Theory, everyone’s experience may vary: The character Sheldon experienced colourful visualisations that filled him with joy, while his partner Amy had less-than-ideal hallucinations. 
Whatever floats my boat may not float yours. 
In my experience though, soaking in salt to soothe some of my mental wounds made things just a bit better.