Polar explorers need more psychological preparation: researchers
Last Updated: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 | 9:27 AM CT
CBC News
Anyone who wants to explore the Arctic and Antarctica will need more than just physical fitness to brave the elements. A new study suggests they need also to be psychologically fit to spend time in such harsh, remote regions.
In a study published in last week's edition of The Lancet medical journal, researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Southern California say the isolation, harsh environment and light changes in those regions can have an impact on mental health.
Five per cent of people who have spent time in the polar regions or other isolated areas required professional mental health care, while up to 60 per cent may suffer from various psychological symptoms, such as depression, sleeplessness and anxiety.
"And also difficulty getting along with their fellow expeditioners — a bit more irritable, a bit more angry, a bit more sensitive," Dr. Lawrence Palinkas, a professor of social work and anthropology at the University of California, told CBC News.
Palinkas, along with Peter Suedfeld of the University of British Columbia, reviewed logbooks and literature from people who worked at polar research stations, as well as adventurers who travelled by ski, dogsled or on foot to the North or South pole.
Palinkas said many of those who may not cope well in polar settings had no previous history of mental disorder. But when those problems do surface within a group setting — such as in a research station or polar expedition — it can create interpersonal conflicts that can have a major impact on the group, he added. It can also result in costly evacuations from the polar region.
Palinkas said better screening methods are needed to weed out people who are not psychologically fit to spend time in the Arctic and Antarctica, especially as those areas become increasingly popular destinations.
Iqaluit resident Paul Crowley, who travelled with a friend by dog team to the North Pole in 2000, said his trip was a success — and he's remained friends with co-traveller Paul Landry — because they prepared both emotionally and physically in advance.
"We already had scenarios worked out of how we would deal with stress and how we would deal with each other under stress, and it made a big difference," said Crowley, who undertook the trip to re-trace American explorer Robert Peary's 1909 expedition.
The researchers hope their polar studies can shed light on some of the behaviour that may occur on an eventual three-year mission to Mars, as well as see how much isolation and confinement people can handle.
