A shipping container carrying three mobile flotation tanks is on its way to Maui, Hawaii, after the 2023 wildfires left survivors facing a fast-rising mental health crisis. Clinical neuropsychologist Justin Feinstein says flotation therapy—Float-REST—could off
By the time the container reaches Maui, it will hold three mobile flotation tanks—equipment usually associated with high-end spas. The delivery is part of a new push to respond to a quieter aftermath of the 2023 wildfires: a mental health crisis many residents fear is only beginning.
Often found in luxury settings, flotation tanks are built around a simple promise—relief without stimulation. In Maui, organizers are betting that approach can help address anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after one of the deadliest wildfire seasons in US history.
In August 2023, wildfires erupted on Maui. The worst of them killed 102 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. In the years since, risks of depression and anxiety have been higher within wildfire burn zones, and fears have grown about an unfolding epidemic of PTSD.
“Maui does not have an infrastructure to deal with a mental health crisis of this magnitude. ” says Justin Feinstein. a clinical neuropsychologist who set up the non-profit Float Research Collective. He describes people “self-medicating,” with “a lot of alcohol use,” alongside “a surge in suicide and PTSD.”.
On 2 May. Feinstein announced at the Embodied Minds Summit in Los Angeles that the float units would be available for free sessions for first responders and survivors of the 2023 wildfires. The plan is not only to offer immediate support. but also to collect long-term data on flotation as a mental health treatment.
Flotation therapy—also known as Float-REST. or reduced environmental stimulation therapy—works inside a shallow pool filled with enough dissolved Epsom salts to support the body without effort. The water in the pool and the air above it are kept at body temperature. Ear plugs reduce noise. Lights are switched off. With the brain cut off from external sources of sensory stimulation. the goal is to let the body and mind settle.
The tanks themselves were invented in the 1950s by neuroscientists. The question then was whether the brain would shut down without stimulation. The answer, Feinstein says, was no—people remained conscious, though they did report a sense of deep relaxation.
Feinstein has spent more than a decade researching flotation’s mental and physical effects. His work has suggested that it significantly reduces anxiety in volunteers without any mental health conditions. and also in people with anxiety disorder and other mental health conditions. including depression and PTSD. Feinstein says the effect is roughly equivalent to taking benzodiazepines, a type of sedative.
Exactly how flotation works is still not fully understood. But the approach is thought to help by removing external sensory stimulation and reducing movement. allowing the body and brain to settle into a state of relaxation. Studies have shown that within minutes, breathing and heart rate slow and blood pressure falls. Brain activity shifts away from self-directed thoughts and emotional processing toward a restorative, sleep-like state.
Feinstein, who has lived in Maui since 2020, has been working with the UK-based company Floataway. Together, they designed lower-cost modular float pods. Unlike regular tanks, the pods can be assembled anywhere in a matter of days.
The Maui Calm Project will bring the tanks to the area and is set to start gathering data in the summer. If the rollout succeeds, the aim is a fleet of pop-up tanks that could be sent to disaster zones around the world to help prevent PTSD.
Sarah Garfinkel at University College London. who has studied the bodily basis of PTSD. says the focus on calming the body is a needed shift in how the condition is treated. “A core feature of PTSD is hyperarousal, which is accompanied by increased reactivity of bodily responses,” she says. “Flotation is seemingly able to bring about a feeling of internal safety. which an important shift in the understanding and treatment of PTSD. I’m really excited by this work.”.
For people living with the aftermath of the fires. the appeal is immediate: fewer distractions. slower rhythms. and time set aside for recovery. For researchers. it’s also a bet that a therapy once associated with spa silence could be scaled into a tool for emergencies—before PTSD hardens into something that follows survivors home.
Maui wildfires PTSD post-traumatic stress disorder flotation therapy Float-REST reduced environmental stimulation therapy Epsom salts Justin Feinstein Float Research Collective Floataway Maui Calm Project