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Breaking News Story - -Astronaut Navy Captain drives 900 miles to confront romantic rival.

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Illustrations have been added of the International Space Station - link is to separate page.

Quotes from "Through the First Antarctic Night" start here.

Material from "Bold Endeavors," Stuster begins here.

A second bizarre episode at an Antarctic Station from "Bold Endeavors."

"Return to Earth," Buzz Aldrin experience with mental illness coming soon.

"Screaming Seaman" If you have experienced this sudden panic attack aboard US Navy submarines, email Researcher.

This site is about a conflict of human physiology that shaped history but was undetected  until the 1960's.

In the entire history of man on the planet Earth this phenomenon was discovered only once.

It caused mental breaks for office workers.

You will find this material hard to believe.

This phenomenon is explained in first semester psychology lectures where students don't believe it either.

For that reason I wrote a demonstration that will allow you to experience the phenomenon.

The Everquest Connection page has the explanation and assumes you have not taken basic psychology.

The solution for this problem was the office Cubicle.

This site argues that the this phenomenon causes College Suicides and Missing Students.

The phenomenon causes mental events around the world, Chaco Canyon.

If you use computers in unprotected workspace such as homes, dorms, student apartments, and small business offices read  ...Prevention... at the bottom of most pages.

Long  term exposure can cause severely altered mental states. Qi Gong  Kundalini Yoga

If you are visiting the site as part of a school project send the person responsible for controlling violence at your school to this site.

__________

Astronauts & Insanity a Hazard of Close Confinement in Space Travel

The material from Dr. Cook's book has been added.

The text is still unfinished as well as the editing of two drafts into a final page.

Be sure to read the material in the links section. New material has been parked there temporarily.

Although I had made an entry about this possibility on the Home page there was no information about it until this morning. This  first link is to an article from the Gravitational and Space Biology Bulletin 13(2), June 2000. It is posted on a site from MIT. "Paper Airplane" is a domain name used  by  the space and aeronautics department at MIT.

http://paperairplane.mit.edu/16.423J/Space/SBE/selected_topics/bold_endeavors.pdf

Mental events creating physical problems as well as psychiatric symptoms have appeared in scientific expeditions.

The Soyuz 21, Salut 5, Russian space mission was cut short because one of the cosmonauts became psychotic. They blamed toxic gases. Far from being a theory of what might happen this phenomenon has already caused mental breaks in space. There is little about this incident on the Internet. If toxic gases were involved why was only one cosmonaut affected? How did toxic gases get into the living-space capsule of the space station?

The more likely explanation is that one cosmonaut, the flight engineer, had duties that required his full mental investment so that he became susceptible to the subliminal detection of the other cosmonaut's movement in the small cabin. The limited comments available say that both men did not maintain schedules made for them.

Another source lists a total of three Russian missions that were stopped short of the scheduled mission completion because of psychological problems of the crew.  (Smithsonian, Air and Space Magazine, June/July 1996) Soviet manned space programs had reduced the crew of Soyuz space capsules from three to two men after the reentry decompression deaths of three cosmonauts in an earlier flight. This allowed space suits to be used during reentry.  But those suits would not have been worn inside the orbiting space station.

If you have access to information on this flight email Researcher. This is a case where everything the two men did is recorded.

Close confinement in an ice bound research ship produced both physical and mental outcomes over several months. This adds to the theory of cold weather Culture Bound Syndromes such as Windigo Psychosis, Icelandic Disease, Arctic Hysteria, Jumping Frenchmen of Maine Disease, and Latah as being caused by the conflict of physiology.

1____

Through The First Antarctic Night   Polar Publishing Company  centennial edition

Some quotes and characterizations cited in other articles do not appear in this edition. The picture and caption I mention in Dr Stuster's book , praising the single-room design,  are not in this edition either.

The events on this expedition have never been resolved. Some articles blame mass hysteria for the mental breaks and illness. Scurvy is acknowledged to have been the cause of the apparent poor physical condition of the men.  Some of Dr. Cook's descriptions resemble panic attacks.

The one death due to the phenomenon was a man with a previous heart ailment. The first death happened when the youngest member fell overboard while attempting to clear lumps of coal from the scupper drains on deck in heavy seas.

As you read these quotes you will see that Dr. Cook first blamed twenty-four hour darkness of the half year night. When the problem did not resolve with the return of the sun in the Antarctic spring he blamed the day long sunshine.

Cook's observations reveal that depression and psychosomatic illnesses were present. The men recovered when they began to work outside to hack the ship out of the pack ice. Keep that in mind as you read these short quotes.

"The cabin is well aft; like the Commandant's room, and the kitchen, it is on deck. ... It is as if eight men stood up around a small table, and a box were built around them, the corners and walls and ceiling being lined with books and instruments." (p 57)

"The curtain of blackness which has fallen over the outer world of desolation as also descended upon the inner world of our souls. Around the tables in the laboratory , and in the forecastle men are sitting about sad and dejected, lost in dreams of melancholy from which, now and then, one arouses with an attempt at enthusiasm.... Each man is intent on being left alone to take what comfort he can from memories of happier days, though such effort usually leaves him more hopelessly oppressed by the sense of utter desertion and loneliness. ..."  (p282)

Space was at such a premium in the small ship that there was no room for any activity once the usual shipboard duties stopped. The men were not sitting around with their eyes closed. They were daydreaming. When we daydream we dissociate slightly so that we become unaware of everything happening around us.

"May 20 ... About half the men complain of headaches and insomnia; many are dizzy and uncomfortable about the head, and other are sleepy at all times, though they sleep nine hours. " (p292)

"May 31 ...  Arctowski and Racovitza (have) an abundance of work. ...It is interesting to see them ... jotting down notes, stooping over the microscopes and other instruments. ... their faces are tired and drawn, as if some great calamity had come upon them."( p 300)

"Each of us had  planned a work of some magnitude to be completed before sunrise. Commandant de Gelarche started to rewrite the ship's log. Lecointe began began to complete the details of the summer's hydrographic work. Racovitza, in addition to laboratory work was to plan the outlines of a new book on the geographical distribution of life. Arctowski had in mind a dozen scientific problems to elucidate. Amundsen entered into a co-partnership with me to make a new and more perfect traveling equipment... Thus we had placed before us the outline for industrious occupation; but we did little of it. As the darkness increased our energy waned. We became indifferent and found it difficult to concentrate our minds or fix our efforts to any one plan of action. " (p 300)

"July 14 ... Almost everybody is alarmed and coming to me for medical treatment, for real or imaginary troubles. ... When at all seriously afflicted, the men felt that they would surely die, and to combat the spirit of abject hopelessness was my most difficult task..." (p 332-3)  At this point Cook believed he was treating a form of Polar anemia. All the men blamed the lack of sunlight for their problems. He devised a diet and used a baking-near-the-stove therapy. Drugs he had available proved useless.

"August...With the coming sun we hoped to dispel our anæmia and make ourselves ready for a a series of difficult tasks to be undertaken in September and October; but instead we failed more and more in strength and developed alarming mental symptoms. One man was temporarily insane, and several others were nearing a similar condition. " ( p  362)  Now is is becoming evident that there is something else wrong. The previous theory of darkness as the cause is proved wrong but Cook does not realize that. He continued to believe that lingering effects of the long period of darkness were the problem.

'November 25 Nearly everyone is suffering, more or less from insomnia, and the cases which have been mentally deranged before show new signs of disturbance."

Remember that the seasons are reversed from the northern hemisphere. November and December are summer there with twenty-four hour, day long sunshine.

"December ..Amundson and I resolved to make a final attempt to reach the tabular iceberg in the east. ... Tollefsen, who had joined us at the last moment...fainted twice after he reached the ship. ... his brain has for a long time been unsteady as a result of the unbroken daylight and hopeless isolation. We thought this jaunt would do him good, but it has had a contrary effect, for his mind is now permanently deranged."  (p 382-3)   Note that Cook is now blaming constant daylight rather than darkness for Tollefsen's mental break.

Cook fails to make specific note of it but his account of the work to cut trenches in the pack ice mentions that the crew's appetite returned as they all pitched in to perform that outdoor work. Some sources I relied on for the account of  that say that they blasted the ship out of the ice. Cook says that the two thousand pounds of explosive they had carefully handled for the entire trip would not even put a hole in the ice. They relied on shovels, picks, and saws.

There  are three articles included as appendices in this centennial edition of Dr. Cook's book. In appendix b Susan Barr blames "unsuitable men" for the mental breaks among the crew.

In Appendix C, T. H. Baughman states that, "Several men showed signs of insanity and most were incapicated in one way or another, Most recovered, although Amundsen had to accompany one insane sailor back to Norway."

A second source of information about the return trip to Norway says that two men were taken back on a mail boat by Amundsen. One recovered one died. Another Internet source, a biography of the ship's captain Adrien de Gerlache, says that Tollefsen was the sailor escorted back to Norway and that he eventually recovered.

http://www.south-pole.com/p0000083.htm

Unidentified Internet Site

"The men's distrust and dislike of each other grew and so began a rapid descent into madness and despair. One of the crew, unable to speak French became convinced that the word for 'something' really meant 'kill' and attacked anyone who uttered it. Another man leapt overboard declaring that he was going to Belgium. The poor diet and the isolation produced lethargy and muscular spasms in the crew. Scurvy was widespread. In order to counteract this Dr Cook prescribed fresh meat but de Gerlache detested the only available source, frozen seal and penguin which they had killed prior to the onset of winter. de Gerlache's dislike bordered on a mania that drove him to forbid even his men from eating it. ... Two of the crew went insane and Christmas passed in gloom. "

http://www.ast.leeds.ac.uk/haverah/spaseman/firstwin.shtml

The scientific expedition was by Belgium in 1898/99.  Almost all of the eighteen men began to have strange symptoms. They lost motivation to do anything even to eat.

Their malaise and apparent depression, caused when they were confined in the single-room arrangement in the small sailing ship, suggests that depression is an outcome of exposure to Subliminal Distraction and  the first of a string  of events leading to mental illness. This would mean that depression happens as part of the onset of delusions and is an altered mental state. Seeing depression as an outcome rather than a cause of psychiatric symptoms may be a difficult concept to grasp. Even more difficult to accept is that unremitting depression is a "psychotic, altered mental state."

Paranoia became evident when one crew member began to believe the others were trying to kill him. If you are a regular reader of this site you will recognize that symptom. It appears in stories of ICU Psychosis and in the accounts of fur trappers over-wintering together in small cabins. In a  slightly modified form it appeared in notes left by Mark Barton the Day Trader Shooter Atlanta 1999. He acted against those who "conspired to cause his downfall" by killing his wife, children, and associates in day trading businesses.

Another man on the expedition became a deaf mute. The crew had problems with their hearts, and digestive troubles. The article posted at MIT points out that others living and working full time in polar environments, natives, do not have such problems. But Arctic Hysteria, a Culture Bound Syndrome, had not been discovered at that time. Culture Bound Syndromes were included in the DSM for the first time in about 2004. They had been known a much longer time but not explored in detail within the general psychology community. (Students and others knew what the term CBS meant but not much is understood about them even today.)

The phenomenon explored on this site happens when too many people attempt to live and work in small single-room arrangements. This is usually called "traditional housing" in cultural or ethnic groups. Modern housing which has dedicated rooms for cooking, eating, sleeping and rooms for entertainment and family activities prevent exposure to Subliminal Distraction unless one person engages an activity requiring deep mental investment. Reading a book, watching TV,  or using a computer all can require mental investment. Suspension of Disbelief is a term that usually refers to that deep mental involvement. When you become invested to the point that you no longer recognize the activity of moving from word to word on the printed page you suspend disbelief. When watching a movie or TV you become an observer participant to the program or story. You slightly dissociate everything happening around you. You are not consciously aware of family members moving in the room.

Dr Cook, ship's doctor, devised a treatment that sat the most seriously ill close  to the cabin stove. It seemed to help. If that placed them in a position where they could no longer subliminally detect movement of their shipmates it certainly would have helped. (Cook later became a polar explorer.)

(The section below is the original text of this page. There are links being added below.)

2___

Bold Endeavors - by Dr Jack Stuster

These paragraphs will be re-edited when I finish reading the book. The two text sections will be integrated.

One of the first comments in the book is the information that there have been several incidents of severe psychotic behavior in polar stations. One happened in 1955 when the American base was established. The psychotically paranoid member of the group was confined in a room lined with mattresses but eventually had to be sedated for the remainder of the winter. In a study after the event  one third of those interviewed reported absentmindedness and wandering attention. Only a few reported instances of mild fugue symptoms.

There is a mention of "screaming seaman" aboard submarines as an anxiety attack. The episode is treated by ship's medical personnel and usually not mentioned in the victim's military record.

Suppressing information is the reason we have these severe psychiatric problems today. If the news of an accidental discovery had been publicized in the 1960's everyone today would understand why Cubicle Level Protection is needed. If the incidents of screaming seamen were widely known someone would have investigated and independently discovered the same phenomenon that the office furniture designers of the 196's did.

The frequency of psychiatric events in these missions is brought in to focus by the fact that Admiral Byrd took only two coffins but twelve straitjackets.

Dr. Stuster indicates that in the research for the book that serious psychosis or neurosis is infrequent. Minor emotional mental problems are common but temporary.

In remarks about the Belgica quoted from Dr Cook's book, "Through the First Antarctic Night," it was the scientific members of the crew that were effected first. Sailors did well as long as they had duties involving normal shipboard activities, repairing, cleaning, or keeping the fires going.

Diet, lack of sunlight, shared hysterical reaction, or just boredom were suggested as the cause of the depression and physical illnesses.

Although it is not directly stated the ships doctor was unaffected. What was the difference in his behavior compared to the crew's behaviors? He remained busy rather than sitting and daydreaming. Dr Frederick Cook is recognized as having saved the lives of the expedition members.

Finally, on page 156 is the cause of the "malady" experienced on the Belgica. In a quote from Dr Cook's book discussing the extreme measures taken with food for the expedition is the statement,

"A thing that I believe has a good effect upon is this living together in the salon, with everything in common. So far as I know it is the first time that such a thing has been tried; but is quite recommended. (Vol. 1, pp. 72-73,  356)"

They copied the bunkhouse and longhouse form of communal living.( See Culture Bound Syndromes VPN site page.)

The list of common complaints from those who winter-over are depression, hostility, sleep disturbances, and impaired cognition. This is manifested in alcohol abuse, paranoid reaction, and psychosomatic complaints.

"The incidence of identifiable pathology in submariners is higher than for surface ships. A study, (Weybrew, in 1979) indicated that of the 58 percent of those labeled as neurotic, 54 percent were anxiety related, 22 percent depressive, 12 percent as phobic, and the remaining 22 percent included, claustrophobia, eating disorders, headaches, and other psychosomatic complaints.  The conclusion or cause was believed to be the "emotion-evoking properties of the submarine environment."

Author's site   http://members.aol.com/jstuster/boldendeavors/author.htm

3 ___

Return to Earth by Buzz Aldrin  

"But what went wrong inside Aldrin’s head? The pressures on him are well described, but they were suffered and endured by other men, like his crewmates Armstrong and Collins, like America’s first man in orbit, John Glenn, like many others. What was it about Aldrin, the rock-solid action-minded pilot, that led to depression, mental illness, “dysfunction”? If it could happen to him, could it happen to any of us? Aldrin says it could."

http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1974/jul-aug/oberg.html

Review of Return to Earth 

Return to Earth begins with amazing details of the splashdown and recovery of the Apollo 11 capsule and the transfer of the astronauts into a Airstream trailer. They were taken trailer and all to Houston and then Ellington Air Force Base. Their speed on the flatbed truck was so slow that a  runner could keep up with them. There the trailer was mated to a door leading to Lunar Receiving Laboratory. An interesting humorous sidelight to manned space travel, revealed in a comment about food preparation, is that flatulence is a problem in the small space capsules and with it the expected fragrance. It strikes me as funny that with all the technological advancement to get three men to the moon, we can't fix a simple digestive problem.

In the account of the LRL it is revealed that anyone suspected of being contaminated was added to the crew isolation quarters. The normal crew consisted of  two cooks, a NASA public relations man, a doctor, and a person to take care of janitorial services. A photographer and a female assistant who helped examine lunar rocks entered the isolation unit by August 5. Here the first clue to paranoia is noted in a small comment that the young woman's boyfriend called on a phone reserved for family members. It was suspected that she knew in advance that she would be in the unit and gave him the number. What is the most reasonable explanation for the phone call? NASA arranged for someone to be informed that she would not be coming home that night. The notification of her being sent into isolation would have included the phone number as a courtesy. Attaching sinister  or suspicious motives to normal actions is one of the first symptoms of exposure to Subliminal Distraction.  pg 14-15

A second phenomenon mentioned early in the book is "flicker-flash." Aldrin recalled seeing flashes of light in the capsule while all lights were off and window shades darkened the interior. Some were  like sparkles and others had trails like a meteor. The phenomenon is subjective because some see them and others don't. The Apollo 8 crew was asked, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders,  but they had seen nothing. When the Apollo 12 crew was interviewed they had all seen the lights and  saw them with their eyes shut. The current speculation is that the phenomenon is caused by high energy particles. If this is caused by high energy particles it would pose a problem for long distance space travel. When Aldrin had serious problems with mood and depression he worried that the particles might have damaged his brain.

I mention the phenomenon because it caused a second psychological event in the LRL. A minor rift was created by the constant discussion of the light flashes. The crew had begun to get on each other's nerves. Aldrin sensed an annoyance in Neil when the  flashes were discussed. Remember that these men were highly trained and counseled about group dynamics. Friction between group members, noted in Antarctic stations, is a second feature of exposure to Subliminal Distraction.

This kind of tension simmered for the next few weeks but never surfaced. Mike, though he was undoubtedly aware of what was happening, remained his amiable and some what easygoing self. pg 21

After a trip to Sweden ..."Back in Houston we settled into a routine of school and my travel schedule while I slid into the doldrums." After a NASA protocol officer failed to send a list of those people who should receive thank you notes Aldrin comments, "... For some reason the simple fact of someone not doing his job thoroughly made me feel as though I was being deserted. ...unaware of the unreality of such a thought, I went to bed one night and stayed there off and on for a week." pg267

When a NASA planning committee on booster shuttle rockets was abandoned Aldrin says, "My mood was starting to swing for long enthusiastic highs to long , immobilizing lows."  g268

Briefly mentioned in this section is that Aldrin was using his "office" daily. He believed that the failure to get his choice of assignments in the Air Force after leaving NASA was one cause of his depression.

"The correct term for what now happened to me is a quasi-medical term, "dysfunction." it means is that I stopped. Stopped everything. I'd go to my office in the morning. determined to work a full day and then to home for more work. I'd sit down at my desk and stare out the window."  pg 281

At this point Aldrin accepted the job as commandant of the Aerospace School at Edwards, California. Everything involving offices and work changed.

During a trip to Italy to compare aerospace schools he notes that he began to flinch when paparazzi camera lights flashed. "Several times I resolved to get help but I could not believe that I was not incapable of getting myself going. Every time I decided to get help I began to cry." pg 287-88  Aldrin had resisted starting psychiatric treatment to prevent it going on his military record but by October 1971 an appointment had been made at the Brooks Medical Center in San Antonio Texas.

Aldrin's mother and her father died of suicide after a long period of depression. He feared his depression was inherited.

 "The first indication was a noticeable shift in my moods. The last two and a half years of my life--since the time I left the lunar Quarantine quarters until the the Wilford Hall-- were characterized by depression  which occasionally deepened, then rose to a temporary brief high of optimism, only to sink again to a new low." pg304(Wilford Hall is the hospital at Brooks Air Force Base.)

Doctors investigated all aspects of Aldrin's life and the relationships with his parents and family but no one investigated the exposure he would have had in the small space capsules on his trip to the Moon.

His description of the events matches Dr. Cook's account of events aboard the Belgica even down to his fear of sleep at one point.

There was a tremendous volume of mail and lists of signed pictures to mail out. Aldrin said his desk was always covered and the stacks of correspondence spilled over into a chair.  The family had a collection of animals including a monkey.  It is not clear that he always worked in an office at NASA or the Air Force. There is one reference to work being done after dinner at home. There were two episodes of depression in two different homes.

4__

A second episode from Bold Endeavors

CaptNov

Navy Capt. Lisa Marie Nowak

Captain Nowak drove 900 miles from Houston to Orlando to intercept Colleen Shipman's meeting with Navy Commander Bill Oefelein. Nowak succeeded in only spraying pepper spray through a small opening in Shipman's car window. Nowak used her astronaut training when she included disposable diapers to reduce stops along the way. Nowak, a graduate of the Naval Academy with a Master's Degree in Aeronautical Engineering, is married with three children.

She only admitted an attempt to scare Shipman. But the contents of her car, a new steel mallet, a knife, and plastic garbage bags, indicate she may have more serious ambitions. She was seen  throwing away a wig and CO2 powered pellet gun.

Exposure to Subliminal Distraction in training and missions would have increased her paranoia about the relationship with Oefelein.

What might happen it this episode or one similar to it had played out on a mission?

This is not the first event that happened to an astronaut or cosmonaut. There was a psychotic mental break on Soyuz-21. Unaware of Subliminal Distraction the Russian space agency gave twelve possible causes including toxic gases. Mental breaks have happened on scientific expeditions for over a hundred years. Unsuitable people or mass hysteria are usually blamed. There is a developing field of study called the 'psychology of isolation.' Putting two or more people in too-small single-room arrangements supplies the "special conditions" for exposure from SD. Isolation has little to do with it.

February 6, 2007 Nowak has been charged with attempted kidnapping, attempted vehicle burglary with battery and destruction of evidence and battery charges.1:28 p.m. ET, 2/6/07 Redd Huber / AP  (Appeared on MSN site. )

February 7,2007 Released on 25,000 bond with a tracking ankle bracelet Nowak returned to Houston.

MSN story and photos, short availability 02/06/07.   http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17009287/displaymode/1176/rstry/16997958/

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/05/space.love/index.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,250415,00.html

Experts interviewed on TV news programs have the usual psychobabble explanations including a failure in achieving attention in childhood. Dr Keith Ablow, on Today, explained it all in terms of stress at the breakup of her 19 year marriage. Family and friends say the act is out of character. One NASA astronaut spokesman admitted that NASA's psychological testing is a failure. It only allows intelligent people to "beat the testing."

THE RELEVANCE OF PREVIOUS EXPEDITIONS TO FUTURE SPACE EXPLORATION
Jack Stuster, PhD, CPE Vice President and Principal Scientist Anacapa Sciences, Inc.

This adobe file contains the basic story. It does not contain the quote from Dr. Cook's book that mentions the living arrangements. It is a promotional excerpt for the book.

http://spacebio.net/modules/lis_resource/Lessons_From_Expeditions.pdf

The Belgica

Built and commissioned as a whaler, the Patria, the Belgica was bought and renamed for the Belgian Polar Expedition. She had a steam engine and three masts. Articles on-line say that she was so overloaded she could barely move out of port. Her deck  was barely two feet above the water line.

A second expedition in this article

(Unfinished)

The International Biomedical Expedition

One member was evacuated due to "psychological problems." There were constant problems with rivalries between members. Remember these were highly trained professionals not sailing ship crew members.

Observed effects of Subliminal Distraction on this site are paranoia and  un-attributed fear. These same symptoms appear above in the case of the Belgica.

Conclusion

The apparent depression experienced by the crew of the Belgica posits that depression may be an outcome of exposure to Subliminal Distraction.

Dr. Stuster's book has suggestions at the end of each chapter of things that must be considered for space travel. It further comments that selection of crewmembers for compatibility will not be possible since training for specialized crew positions will determine who is selected.

Simple precautions to prevent the subliminal detection of threat movement will limit exposure and thus limit negative interaction of crewmembers.

It may be enough that crew members just  be aware of the problem. Knowledge of what is happening may allow each person to control paranoia if the cause and source are known. But depression may require some precautions.

Counter programming may be possible. The examples of medical benefits occurring due to Qi Gong and Yoga point to that possibility. Although it is scorned as quackery EMDR is being used to treat PTSD according to site pages at the Veteran's Administration.

Links for Astronauts & Insanity below.  --     Click this line for Site Links Page  The favorites list from site research is there.

PSYCHOLOGY AND CULTURE DURING LONG-DURATION SPACE MISSIONS
International Academy of Astronautics Study Group on Psychology and
Culture During Long-Duration Space Missions
Final Report
August 15, 2006

"The objective of this report is twofold: a) to describe the current knowledge of cultural, psychological, psychiatric, cognitive, and interpersonal issues that are relevant to the behavior and performance of astronaut crews and ground support personnel; and b) to make recommendations for future human space missions, including both transit and planetary surface operations on the Moon, Mars, and beyond."

"According to Russian space psychologists and flight surgeons, asthenia is another important psychiatric condition that may affect people in space. This syndrome is defined as a weakness of the nervous system that may result in fatigue, irritability and emotional lability, attention and concentration difficulties, restlessness, heightened perceptual sensitivities, palpitations and blood pressure instability, physical weakness, and sleep and appetite problems."

http://iaaweb.org/iaa/Scientific%20Activity/Study%20Groups/SG%20Commission%202/sg24/sg24finalreport.pdf

A Strategy for Research in Space Biology and Medicine into the Next Century (1998)
Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications (CPSMA)
Space Studies Board (SSB)
 

"There is not enough objective data to determine the seriousness of behavioral impairments in past spaceflight missions. Nevertheless, there is reason to suppose that psychological problems have already occurred in spaceflights and that these will increase in frequency and severity as missions become longer and more complex, as crews become larger and more heterogeneous, and as the dangers of spaceflight become more fully appreciated." E-book on-line pages 194-95

http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6282&page=194

Asthenia—Does It Exist in Space? Psychosomatic Medicine 63:874-880 (2001)
© 2001 American Psychosomatic Society

Nick Kanas, MD, Vyacheslav Salnitskiy, PhD, Vadim Gushin, MD, Daniel S. Weiss, PhD, Ellen M. Grund, MS, Christopher Flynn, MD, Olga Kozerenko, MD, Alexander Sled, MS and Charles R. Marmar, MD

The paper mentions several incidents on space missions. George Beard, mentioned in the second quote,  discovered Jumping Frenchmen of Maine syndrome. JFMS site page

"Psychosomatic symptoms have been reported anecdotally during space missions, especially by Russian cosmonauts who have been on orbit in the Salyut and Mir space stations for several months....According to Russian psychologists and flight surgeons, one of the biggest problems affecting the emotional state of cosmonauts during long-duration space missions is asthenia (also called neurasthenia in some references). On Earth this syndrome is defined as a "nervous or mental weakness manifesting itself in tiredness...and quick loss of strength, low sensation threshold, extremely unstable moods, and sleep disturbance.^"

"Ironically, the roots of asthenia can be traced back to the writings of an American, George Beard, who lived from 1839 to 1883. He observed that many of his patients complained of vague symptoms that included profound exhaustion, morbid fears and anxieties, hopelessness, mental irritability, inability to concentrate, forgetfulness, headaches, insomnia or bad dreams, physical ailments, body pains, and sexual difficulties."

http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/content/full/63/6/874

The Antarctic Sun  February 7, 1997 (Published for the austral summer for the United States Antarctic Program at McMurdo Station Antarctica)

"The Belgica remained frozen in the ice for the winter and the following spring the ice was so thick that it was feared that they would never get out of the ice. Before they did get out, one man died and two went insane. Finally, after the crew worked for six months sawing the ice with small saws a channel was cut, and the ship was released."

Note the reference that outside work had gone on for six months.

http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/oldissues97-98/as0207.pdf

The Wall Street Journal, 12/10/85  (Copyright (c) 1985, Dow Jones & Co., Inc.) {Second of two articles.}
Seeing 'Cat Ballou' 87 Times By Bryan Burrough

"The Soviets, who maintain seven scientific stations here, have already applied one lesson: According to NASA psychologists, cosmonauts have been forbidden to play chess in space ever since a Russian in the Antarctic murdered a colleague with an ax after losing a chess game. "

"Boredom and isolation-related troubles have plagued Antarctic expeditions since 1898, when the first group wintered here. Back then a sailor went insane aboard the icebound ship Belgica. The ship's doctor reported that psychological problems such as depression and insomnia caused by "the spell of the black Antarctic night" sparked more problems than scurvy and frostbite."

http://www.newscenter.com/antarctica.html

Asthenia—Does It Exist in Space? (Full Article)

Nick Kanas, MD, Vyacheslav Salnitskiy, PhD, Vadim Gushin, MD, Daniel S. Weiss, PhD, Ellen M. Grund, MS, Christopher Flynn, MD, Olga Kozerenko, MD, Alexander Sled, MS and Charles R. Marmar, MD

"Psychosomatic symptoms have been reported anecdotally during space missions, especially by Russian cosmonauts who have been on orbit in the Salyut and Mir space stations for several months. For example, in his diary a Salyut 6 cosmonaut described a fear of having an appendicitis attack in space, and he experienced pain in his teeth after having a dream of a toothache."

http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/content/full/63/6/874

United States Air Force Flight Surgeon’s Guide. Chapter Nine. Aviation Neuropsychiatry, Rev 4 Feb 02

http://www.brooks.af.mil/af/files/fsguide/HTML/Chapter_09.html

The Psychology of Isolation by John Sturgeon

The full article is posted here.

"Hebb and his colleagues at McGill began their studies in 1951 with 22 male college students as subjects. The subjects were payed $20 U.S. per day to lie in bed and do nothing. The subjects wore translucent goggles, which permitted diffuse light to pass through but prevented patterned vision, and cardboard cuffs and gloves to limit tactual information. The cubicle in which they stayed was partially soundproofed and auditory stimulation was further reduced by a masking noise (Schultz, 1965).

Despite the high level of pay for doing absolutely nothing, the experimenters had a hard time keeping subjects past the third day. During the first day, most subjects would sleep, but by the second and third days the subjects became bored and began reporting difficulties in concentration and seeing visual, kinesthetic (moving), and somasthetic (feeling) hallucinations (Schultz, 1965). "

http://www.space.edu/LibraryResearch/undgrant.html

SPACE MEDICINE  George A Martin, M.D.

"Documented untoward psychological and behavioral responses to spaceflight have occurred. They include: disruption of cognitive and memory functions (especially in association with circadian rhythm variations); stress and anxiety states induced by concern for a successful mission; fear of the physical dangers encountered during spaceflight; social isolation; decreased personal space; sensory deprivation or overload related to spacecraft design; interpersonal difficulties among crew members; family problems; sleep disturbances; depression; and personality changes."

http://wwwsam.brooks.af.mil/af/files/fsguide/HTML/Chapter_25.html

Deviance in the Extreme Environment Defining the Off-Nominal Act Marilyn Dudley-Rowley

"Borrowing the NASA term "off-nominal", which generally refers to maladaptive actions between machine-machine or human-machine interfaces, a preliminary reliability test was conducted among five scientists who work with human interaction in extreme environments. They were asked to rate situations from several actual space and polar expeditions for numbers of off-nominal acts. They were told the object of the exercise was to derive a standardized definition and were not provided with any specific notion of off-nominality. Substantial agreement in their ratings provides reliable information to construct a working definition of off-nominality."

http://pweb.jps.net/~gangale/opsa/DevianceAmongExpeditioners/neworl1_frm.htm

The Psychological Dangers of Long-Duration Space Flight by John Corwin

The Document has a long bibliography of resources.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~humbio01/s_papers/2002/Corwin.pdf#search='astronauts%20psychological%20psychiatric%20problems'

Psychological and Human Factors in Long Duration Spaceflight by M. Ephimia Morphew*, M.S.

http://paperairplane.mit.edu/16.423J/Space/SBE/countermeasures/space_hufac_overview.pdf#search='astronauts%20psychological%20psychiatric%20problems'

Second Journey of an Astronaut  by Captain James E. Oberg

Buzz Aldrin had mental problems after being on space missions. This page refers to  "Return to Earth"  Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr., with Wayne Warga  (New York: Random House)

http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1974/jul-aug/oberg.html

Air and Space Magazine, Smithsonian Air and Space Museum June/July 1996.

"The Loneliness of the Long-Duration Astronaut,"  by Henry S.F. Cooper Jr.

"...the director of medical services at the Russian Institute of Biomedical Problems recently named psychological issues the "most difficult" of the challenges cosmonauts face on long missions."

"On two cruises of Polaris submarines, five percent of the crew experienced incidents of anxiety, depression, or psychosis."

"There are many reports of tension among crew members in space. There have been episodes in orbit in which one crew member did not speak to another for several days; there are even rumors of fist fights--one reportedly over a chess game."

"According to other Russian reports, at least three missions have been aborted for reasons that were in part psychological. In one case, the Soyuz 21 mission to the Salyut 5 space station in 1976, the crew was brought home early after the cosmonauts complained fiercely of an acrid odor in the space station's environmental control system. No cause was ever found, nor did other crews smell it; conceivably it was a hallucination."

http://www.airandspacemagazine.com/ASM/Mag/Index/1996/JJ/llda.html

Russian Space Web Site

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/index.html

Soyuz capsule

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz.html

NASA Soyuz

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/soyuz/

RUSSIAN INSTITUTE PLAYS LEADING ROLE IN PREPARING FOR LONG-DURATION FLIGHT By Yuri Karash

"In August 1976, the Soyuz 21 mission was ended early after cosmonauts Boris Volynov and Vitaly Zholobov spent seven weeks on board the Salyut 5 space station. The men were supposed to break the 63-day endurance record set the year before by Soyuz 18 crew Pyotr Klimuk and Vitaly Sevastyanov on the Salyut 4 space station, but failed to do it. The reason: Volynov and Zholobov developed serious psychological problems during flight".

http://www.imbp.ru/webpages/engl/Articles/artic1_e.html

Encyclopedia Astronautica - Soyuz 21

"Towards the end of the two month mission an early return to earth was requested due to the poor condition of flight engineer Vitali Mikhailovich Zholobov (who was suffering from space sickness and psychological problems)."

Cached page only.   http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:FfF14_YwkQQJ:www.astronautix.com/flights/soyuz21.htm+August+1976+%22Soyuz+21%22&hl=en&lr=lang_en

Alternate page for same site. Has list of all Soviet missions.  http://www.astronautix.com/articles/thespace.htm

The Psychology of Isolation John Sturgeon

The paper mentions Soviet problems and how their astronauts are observed while in space. There is no mention of the conflict of physiology. There is a long bibliography.

http://www.space.edu/LibraryResearch/undgrant.html

Suicide - Social Aspects

Suicides and hazing causes problems in the Soviet military.

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/6122/suicides.html

Newsletter home page.       http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/6122/home.html

Conflict of Physiology

The conflict of our physiology explored  on this site is that although you can ignore  peripheral vision reflexes, you cannot stop seeing the movement that causes them. You cannot tell your brain to stop subliminally detecting that movement and attempting to force  the reflex.

Peripheral Vision Reflexes

Peripheral vision reflexes are an evolutionarily developed, retained, warning system. For early man or pre-humans to survive they needed a system to warn  them of predators approaching from behind. To function it must work all the time no matter what  you are doing. If you had the ability to turn the brain system off at will, it could not warn you in critical situations.

The act of concentrating on something at arm's length, in your hand for instance, causes physiological changes in the eye.

When you focus on a close object your eye accommodates by changing the shape of the lens.  This shape-change expands the area covered by Subliminal Peripheral Vision.

Plitz's reflex, or Attention Reflex, changes the size of  your pupil. This floods the retina with ambient light desensitizing the rods so that only a large movement close by will trigger a reflex.

M and P Pathways

Although all signals from the retina travel on the optic nerve there are actually two pathways. They route the signals from conscious sight and peripheral vision to different parts of  the brain. This allows humans to have two vision systems running at the same time. The pathway from peripheral vision is subliminally observed.

http://www.vestibular.org/computer.html

Links from Peripheral Vision site page.

Nightwalking

"In The Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi, the legendary swordsman of 16th century Japan, implies that he fought his greatest duels with his eyes crossed, and goes into considerable detail about developing and using this strange abitlity."

The method suggested to engage peripheral vision is to suspend an object from the bill of a baseball cap and practice staring at it rather than looking straight ahead as we all normally do.

The site has a page on the physiology of the eye and sight. It describes the normal field of vision.

http://www.navaching.com/hawkeen/nwalk.html#Anchor-The-59125

Institute for Innovative Blind Navigation

Don't let the site name put you off. This site has several pages which explain sight and how the brain deals with two vision systems.

http://www.wayfinding.net/index.htm

This page has the vision material.    http://www.wayfinding.net/vsionsys.htm#four

The Red Myth

Color in Vision

http://stlplaces.com/night_vision.html

University of Missouri

The first paragraph on this page refers to psychological factors effecting pupil dilation.

"Interestingly, the pupil/iris combination also changes in response to psychological factors. One sign of activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which is a system important in arousal, fight, and flight, is dilated pupils. For example, sexual interest results in pupil dilation. (This piece of information may come in handy some time.)"

http://web.umr.edu/~psyworld/eye.htm

 University of Utah

John Moran Eye Center --  Anatomy

http://webvision.med.utah.edu/

Kimball's Biology Pages 

A simple explanation of the eye and sight.

http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/V/Vision.html

Understanding Human Vision

This site deals with color.

http://www.pitir.com/pentile/Human_Vision.html

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