Quite how the growing phenomenon of ‘rawdogging’ took off I am unsure, but it has morphed into a thing people are willing to try.
First things first remove your minds from the gutter, despite what ideas the term may evoke in your mind this is a new way of travelling.
In essence, you shed yourself of all distractions and forms of entertainment and simply sit in your seat for the span of the journey, there’s no bringing books or watching movies or snacking your way through a trip.
If you’re wanting to ‘rawdog’ your next flight, you won’t be needing those airpods. (Getty Stock Image)
To be honest with you, dear reader, this sounds incredibly boring an unpleasant and I wouldn’t do it, but it’s somehow taken off as a trend.
Some psychologists have said it can be a ‘dopamine detox’ for your mind where your brain takes a break from the constant patterns of entertainment and information.
Chartered psychologist Dannielle Haig told LADbible that men might get a bit more out of this trend, and that it could give your brain a chance to rest ‘without constant stimuli.
However, it’s definitely not something a flight full of people would like to have forced on them unwillingly if all the in-flight entertainment goes down, but some people are choosing to give it a go.
No distractions, no entertainment, just sitting there with nothing to do until it’s over. This is what ‘rawdogging’ a flight means. (Getty Stock Photo)
One woman who recently tried to ‘rawdog’ her flight from Mykonos to Gatwick recounted that it was not an especially pleasant experience.
“I felt my mind begin to crack, my mood begin to shift and my dignity begin to evaporate,” she said of the journey and that by the second hour it was ‘excruciating’.
Among the side effects of this trend she experience were a stomach ache and ‘pure inexplicable rage’, by the time her journey was over she was ‘tired, hungry and angry’.
All in all it doesn’t sound like a glowing endorsement of rawdogging flights, and Dr Suhail Hussain told LADbible why someone doing this might start feeling some adverse effects.
It turns out that rawdogging isn’t exactly a pleasant experience. (Supplied)
It would seem safe to say the doc is not a fan of this growing trend, nor attempts to claim it as a ‘form of meditation and mindfulness’.
Speaking to LADbible, he said: “Some psychologists have claimed that it is a form of meditation and mindfulness – TOTAL RUBBISH!
“Mindfulness is a conscious practice of being mindfully aware of one’s surroundings, it is NOT mindlessness – which is what this practice sounds like.”
As for what ‘rawdogging’ on a flight does to your body, Dr Hussain said it was unsurprising that people might start to feel unwell trying this trend.
He said: “The body is a complex and sensitive thing and putting it under such physiological stress is not healthy. This is particularly the case in the environment and conditions that are present during a flight.
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A doctor told LADbible that putting your body ‘under such physiological stress is not healthy’. (Getty Stock Photo)
“The cabin of an aeroplane is pressurised equivalent to an altitude of about 7000 feet. This means there is less oxygen available to the passengers, which can lead to hypoxia resulting in symptoms of fatigue, dizziness, headaches and even shortness of breath.
“This will be exacerbated when one is dehydrated which is also a consequence of being in the plane as the air is very dry.”
That doesn’t sound very fun at all, and Dr Hussain went on to explain why someone trying to ‘rawdog’ their flight might also begin to feel like it was taking a toll on their mind as well as their body.
The woman flying from Mykonos to Gatwick said that before long she ‘was furious at every single person who had the audacity to catch my eye, to walk past me, or even to simply exist’.
Even after the other side effects faded it was this miserable mood which persisted, as she told Tyla ‘nothing could be done to fix her mood’.
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A woman who tried ‘rawdogging’ a flight for the first time didn’t find it to be a pleasant experience. (Getty Stock Photo)
Dr Hussain said: “This may be due to being confined to one very small space for prolonged period of time – think of it as a small stint in solitary confinement.
“No contact with others, no distractions, no external stimuli. Anyone would be bound to go a bit loopy.”
Instead, he recommended that plane passengers keep themselves hydrated, have a bit of time to move around and eat some light meals, while if the flight was going to be seven hours or more he suggested trying to get a bit of shut-eye.
Dr Suhail Hussain is a private, home visiting GP, providing bespoke medical care to discerning clients in Herts and Greater London. Visit his website for more info.