The White Room

Or what a nightmare!

I had a dream last week where I was in a white room, completely void of anything. I do remember there were some drawers and maybe a sink.

But other than that, nothing.

I remember thinking or maybe even hearing a voice saying:

“There is no me”

“There is no you”

“There is only us”

This literally scared the crap out of me so much that I woke up from that dream and I remember I was pretty shaken by how real it seemed.

So while writing this piece, I came across this article from Unbelievable Facts which describes that this is a real thing literally called White Room Torture.

Have you ever thought that a color could be used as a means of torture? Apparently, it is. White Room torture is considered to be one of the most dangerous forms of mental affliction.

White Room torture involves the stay of a prisoner in a cell or a box which has completely white walls. The sheets, prison clothes, door, lights, and everything else in the cell are white. Also, the food served is white rice. Furthermore, sensory deprivation is not only inflicted through the color but also the absolutely mute environment. Therefore, there has to be pin-drop silence around the cell. The prisoner is kept in isolation and cannot talk to anyone. Even to use the toilet, the prisoner has to slip a white piece of paper from underneath the door to the guard. The slippers of the guards are padded so that the prisoner cannot hear any sounds, but the ones made by him.

As is evident, white room torture has nothing to do with beating or pain. Nevertheless, it is worse. Your brain is beaten up very badly even without touching you. The purpose of such kind of punishment is usually to instill fear in the prisoner although the results are way more dangerous than just a ‘scared prisoner’. The detainee loses his identity in the process. He cannot remember who he was and anyone from his family. Moreover, there is a conditioning of fear attached to the color ‘white’.

That’s pretty sinister, but I have to tell you, from what I remember from that dream, I was absolutely removed from any semblance of being, so it sounds like that dream was right on the mark as far as how someone would feel in that situation.

Even more chilling is the outcome that the article describes as long term effects:

Once one becomes a prisoner of white room torture, he/she never restores to normal again. Unfortunately, the desolation lasts for life.

Makes this little lyric from the Cream song White Room take on new meaning doesn’t it?

I'll wait in this place where the sun never shines;
Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves.

So whatever triggered that dream (maybe the news where people as we’ve seen in Australia being herded out of their homes and into “quarantine” camps?) made me aware that such a thing exists.

I came to the realization that you can actually be manipulated to be unpersoned as George Orwell wrote in his dystopian novel 1984, but in the sense where you weren’t physically removed from society, but mentally.

So the next time you’re in an all white room, listen carefully…

“There is no me”

“There is no you”

“There is only us”