A nuclear submariner who spent six months living underwater on board a UK Navy sub has revealed the strange side-effects that he experienced when he came back to shore.
Paul McNally spent half a year under the waves without natural light or air, and that’s something you are definitely going to notice.
Nuclear submariner explains life beneath the waves
On his TikTok account, McNally took his followers on a journey to the bottom of the sea aboard a nuclear vessel - and it turns out that there are a few factors that make it a difficult life.
First off, he shared pictures of himself before and after the voyage, which he took aboard the HMS Vengeance.
The first photo before his deployment shows a fresh-faced young lad, then the second shows - well - seemingly the same lad, just a bit later on.
But, as he’d go on to explain - things had changed.
“The first main side effect is complete sensory overload and disorientation,” he explained.
You might expect that, spending six months without knowing - figuratively speaking - which way was up can do that.
He continued: “Imagine this, all you have been seeing for the past six months straight is artificial light and every breath that has entered your lungs has been from recycled air.
“When it’s finally time to come back, you’ve been counting down the days and letting people climb up the ladder, and as you climb to the top of this ladder you get a glimpse of what real light looks like for the first time in six months.
“Then it’s just pure euphoria, you stand on top of the submarine casing, it’s complete sensory overload of all your senses, you take in the fresh air, the nature, the fact that you are finally back after what has felt like years underwater [in] legitimate purgatory.”
That’s not all though - there are other side effects that he discussed
Paul added: “The second one is social overstimulation.
“Being around crowds of people that you don’t know after living with the same crew for the past six months feels completely alien and definitely takes some getting used to.
“The third one is post-deployment emptiness.
“A mixture of exhaustion and loss of structure just creates complete emotional numbness and a hollow feeling inside of you as you sit alone in your room after being constantly surrounded by people for the past six months.”
One more for good measure, though.
Paul said: “The last ones sleep disruption.
“When you are used to only having a six hour slot to sleep for six months and you have three whole weeks to yourself to do anything, you generally spend most of it sleeping and ordering takeaways.”
Fair enough, after six months underwater you’ve probably earned it.
Credit: Handout/Getty