Pray for them.

What else can you do for the 33 Chilean miners in the San Jose Mine trapped 2,300 vertical feet underground and no prospect of getting out for as long as three to four months and possibly not until Christmas.

Considering they’ve already spent three weeks in what is described as a “small apartment” sized safety room 4.5 miles inside the winding shaft and living on two spoonfuls of tuna, a sip of milk, a bite of crackers and a morsel of peach every other day, it’s nothing less than a miracle that the trapped workers have survived this long.

Is it any wonder that one of the first items sent down to the entombed miners was anti-depressants? These imprisoned souls are going to need all the Prozac they can swallow if they’re ever going to see daylight again, though hopefully one American mining engineer believes he has a drill that might get them to the surface in no more than a month. Let’s hope good ol’ American ingenuity comes through again. Even if it does, it will still have been a hellish experience for the brave men.

Certainly people in this mining belt area, especially Kimberley, have good reason to empathize with the isolated Chileans. I once had the opportunity to crawl into the “cage” and go down the shaft in the Sullivan. It was like descending into an underground high-rise and even though I don’t tend to be claustrophobic, it felt pretty oppressive down there. But at least I knew I would be out in a few minutes. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be in that Stygian gloom not knowing when you’d get out.

Apparently it can cause you to become unhinged.

Sensory deprivation is defined as the deliberate removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Perhaps one of the most ghoulish devices ever invented was the Sensory Deprivation Tank. It was developed in 1954 by Dr. John Lilly, an American neuro-psychiatrist and consists of a tank filled with salty water at skin temperature that quickly induces total relaxation and a meditative state. Restricted environmental stimulation therapy (REST) dry chambers have also been developed.

In short doses, these devices can have positive effects and have been used to treat such things as alcoholism, depression and other neuro-psycholgical conditions. But often in as little as a few hours the devices can produce hallucinations, perceptual disorders and paranoia similar to being on LSD, say test volunteers.

Are you still sure they won’t need the Prozac down in that dim hole? In fact, they’re already preparing for the long-term negative effects of sensory deprivation by trying to promote camaraderie among the immobilized miners and deciding they won’t send them such things as board games to pass the time because they fear the games will produce negative competitive effects.

And so far it seems to be working. One of the first things the languishing miners did when they got word from above was break into a lusty rendition of the Chilean National Anthem. Messages are being exchanged with loved-ones outside and one miner has even re-proposed to his wife who he hadn’t yet officially married.

But however long it takes to get the 33 ensnared miners back to terra firma, it’s going to be an ordeal that could break the spirit of the strongest among us. Will some break down? Go crazy? Become clinically depressed? Attempt suicide? Lash out at their fellow workers? If they make it out, will they ever ride the cage down the shaft again? Will some make peace with the world? Purge their demons? Become better or worse people for the experience? Find God or renounce the deity forever? Whatever happens, I’m sure it will be a life-altering experience.

When this is over, there will probably be a book or two, some incisive psychological and medical studies or even a Hollywood movie. Hopefully they’ll receive a fat financial bonus from the company that sent them down the unsafe shaft in the first place.

But first of all, they’ve got to get out. Please pray for these brave men.