Jump to content

Psychological and sociological effects of spaceflight

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kanasnick (talk | contribs) at 20:33, 4 January 2013. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

  • Comment: Please use <ref></ref> tags. Makecat 08:20, 30 December 2012 (UTC)
  • Comment: It is a good topic and one which I think Wikipedia should cover, but it is an encyclopedia, and not an essay database. So if you want to submit it here, please rephrase it into a more encyclopedic tone. Also, it would help, although not necessary, to use <ref> tags for referencing. Kinkreet~♥moshi moshi♥~ 20:44, 1 January 2013 (UTC)


PSYCHOLOGICAL, INTERPERSONAL AND PSYCHIATRIC ISSUES DURING MANNED SPACE MISSIONS


Star patterns have been used as templates to express psychological, societal and mythological needs. This constellation map is from Cellarius' Harmonia Macrocosmica, first published in 1660. For more on Cellarius and celestial maps, see Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography, 2nd ed., N. Kanas, Springer-Praxis, 2012.

Introduction

Humans have observed and tried to understand the heavens since prehistoric times. They have created sky images from patterns involving the stars and wondered at the movements of the so-called "wandering stars", which included the planets visible to the naked eye. Prominent among the latter was Mars, which was seen as the God of War by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Although robotic spacecraft have landed on the Red Planet, plans also have been discussed for a human expedition, perhaps as early as the 2030s.[1]

A Mars expedition will last two to three years and will involve a crew of six or seven people. Although technological and physiological problems involved with such a mission remain to be worked out, there are also a number of behavioral issues affecting the crew that need to be addressed. Being confined with the same individuals millions of miles from Earth for such a long period of time will likely create psychosocial stress for the crewmembers and affect their ability to carry out the goals of the mission. In preparing for such an expedition, one must begin with what is known about important psychological, interpersonal and psychiatric issues occurring in space missions taking place closer to home.


Psychosocial Issues On-orbit: Empirical Findings

Kanas et al.[2][3][4][5] conducted two NASA-funded international studies of psychological and interpersonal issues during on-orbit missions to the Mir and the International Space Stations. Both crewmembers and mission control personnel were studied. The Mir sample involved 13 astronauts and cosmonauts and 58 American and Russian mission control personnel. The corresponding numbers in the ISS study were 17 space travelers and 128 people on Earth. Subjects completed a weekly questionnaire that included items from a number of valid, well-known measures that assessed mood and group dynamics. Both studies had similar findings. There was significant evidence for the displacement of tension and negative emotions from the crewmembers to mission control personnel. The support role of the commander was significantly and positively related to group cohesion among crewmembers, and both the task and support roles of the team leader were significantly related to cohesion among people in mission control. Crewmembers scored higher in cultural sophistication than mission control personnel. Russians reported greater language flexibility than Americans. Americans scored higher on a measure of work pressure than Russians, but Russians reported higher levels of tension on the ISS than Americans. There were no significant changes in levels of emotion and group interpersonal climate over time. Specifically, there was no evidence for a general worsening of mood and cohesion after the halfway point of the missions, the so-called 3rd quarter phenomenon.[6]

Much has been learned from experiences on the International Space Station about important psychological, interpersonal and psychiatric issues that affect people working on-orbit. It is time to take this information and incorporate it in the planning for future expeditionary missions to a near-Earth asteroid or to Mars.

There have been other psychosocial studies involving astronauts and cosmonauts. Gushin and his colleagues used an analysis of speech patterns and a measure of subjective attitudes and personal values to study on-orbit space crews and people working in space analog environments. They found that over time, these isolated groups showed decreases in the scope and content of their communications and a filtering in what they said to outside personnel, which was termed psychological closing. Crewmembers interacted less with some mission control personnel than others, perceiving them as opponents. This tendency of some crewmembers to become more egocentric was called autonomization.[7][8] This research team also found that crewmembers became more cohesive by spending time together (including joint birthday celebrations),[9] and that the presence of subgroups and outliers (e.g., scapegoats) negatively affected group cohesion.[10] In a study of 12 ISS cosmonauts, these investigators found that personal values generally remained stable, with those related to the fulfillment of professional activities and good social relationships being rated most highly.[11]

Tomi et al.[12] examined potentially disruptive cultural issues affecting space missions in a survey of 75 astronauts and cosmonauts and 106 mission control personnel. The subjects rated coordination difficulties between the different space organizations involved with the missions as the biggest problem. Other problems included communication misunderstandings and differences in work management styles. Nechaev et al.[13] surveyed 11 cosmonauts regarding their opinions of possible psychological and interpersonal problems that might occur during a Mars expedition. They found the following factors to be rated highly: isolation and monotony, distance-related communication delays with the Earth, leadership issues, differences in space agency management styles, and cultural misunderstandings within the international crew. Sandal and Manzey[14] surveyed 576 employees of the European Space Agency and found a link between cultural diversity and the ability of people to interact with one another. Especially important were factors related to leadership and decision-making. Finally, Stuster[15] performed a content analysis of personal journals from ten ISS astronauts that were oriented around a number of issues that had behavioral implications. He found that 88% of the entries dealt with the following categories: Work, Outside Communications, Adjustment, Group Interaction, Recreation/Leisure, Equipment, Events, Organization/Management, Sleep, and Food. In general, the crewmembers reported that their life in space was not as difficult as they expected prior to launch, despite a 20% increase in interpersonal problems during the second half of the missions. It was recommended that crewmembers be allowed to control their schedules as much as possible.

The above on-orbit findings may have limited generalizability to a long-distance, multi-year space expedition, such as a mission to a near-Earth asteroid (which is being considered by NASA) or to Mars. In the case of Mars, new stressors will be introduced due to the great distances involved in journeying to the Red Planet. For example, the crewmembers will be relatively autonomous from mission control and will need to plan their work schedules and deal with problems on their own. They will experience severe isolation as the Earth becomes an insignificant bluish-green dot in the heavens. From the surface of Mars, there will be two-way communication delays with family and friends back home of up to 44 minutes, adding to the sense of isolation.


Space Psychiatry, Asthenization and Salutogenesis On-orbit

A number of psychiatric problems have been reported during on-orbit space missions.[1] Most common are adjustment reactions to the novelty of being in space. Symptoms largely consist of transient anxiety or depression. Psychosomatic reactions also have occurred, where anxiety and other emotional states are experienced physically as somatic symptoms. Problems related to major mood and thought disorders (e.g., manic-depression, schizophrenia) have not been reported during space missions. This likely is due to the fact that crewmembers have been screened psychiatrically for constitutional predispositions to these conditions before launch, so the likelihood of their developing on-orbit is low.

Post-mission personality changes and emotional problems have affected some returning space travelers. These have included anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse, and marital readjustment difficulties that in some cases have necessitated the use of psychotherapy and psychoactive medications.[16] Some astronauts have had problems adjusting to the fame and media demands following their mission, and this is likely to occur in the future following high profile expeditions, such as a trip to Mars.

Asthenization, a syndrome that includes fatigue, irritability, emotional lability, attention and concentration difficulties, and appetite and sleep problems, has been reported to occur commonly in cosmonauts by Russian flight surgeons.[17] It has been observed to evolve in clearly defined stages.[18] It is conceptualized as an adjustment reaction to being in space that is different from neurasthenia, a related neurotic condition seen on Earth.[19] The validity of asthenization has been questioned by some in the West, in part because classical neurasthenia is not currently recognized in the American psychiatric nomenclature, whereas the illness is accepted in Russia and China. Kanas et al.[20] retrospectively analyzed the data from their Mir Space Station Study (see above) to see if there was empirical evidence for asthenization. Their findings did not support the presence of this syndrome when crewmember on-orbit scores were compared with those from a prototype of asthenization developed by Russian space experts. However, further work needs to be done on this phenomenon using controlled prospective studies and measures specific to the asthenization concept.

Isolated and confined environments can also produce positive experiences.[21] Ihle et al.[22] surveyed 39 astronauts and cosmonauts and found that all of the respondents reported positive changes as a result of flying in space. One subscale especially stood out: Perceptions of Earth. One of the items in this subscale that dealt with gaining a stronger appreciation of the Earth’s beauty had the highest mean change score. Extending pioneering research begun in the early 1990s on the salutogenic (or growth-enhancing) aspects of space travel, Suedfeld and his colleagues[23] content analyzed the published memoirs of 125 space travelers. After returning from space, the subjects reported higher levels on categories of Universalism (i.e., greater appreciation for other people and nature), Spirituality, and Power. Russian space travelers scored higher in Achievement and Universalism and lower in Enjoyment than Americans. Overall, these results suggest that traveling in space is a positive and growth-enhancing experience for many of its individual participants.


The Mars canal craze, initiated by a misinterpretation of Schiaparelli's late 19th Century observations of possible channels on the surface, prompted an interest in the Red Planet that has continued to the present day. Mars remains one of the top candidates for a future expeditionary mission.


The Mars 500 Program

What can research tell us about psychosocial and psychiatric issues that may occur during an expedition to Mars? From June 2010 to November 2011, a unique ground-based space analog study took place that was called the Mars 500 Program.[24] It was designed to simulate a 520-day round trip expedition to Mars, including periods of time where the crew functioned under high autonomy conditions and experienced communication delays with outside monitoring personnel in mission control. Six men were confined in a simulator that was located at the Institute for Biomedical Problems in Moscow. The lower floor consisted of living and laboratory modules for the international crew, and the upper floor contained a mock-up of the Mars surface on which the crew conducted simulated geological and other planetary activities.

During a 105-day pilot study in 2009 that preceded this mission, Kanas et al.[25][26] studied the mood and group interactions of a six-man Russian-European crew and the relationships of this crew with outside mission control personnel. Employing measures similar to those used in their on-orbit work (see above), this research team concluded that high work autonomy (where the crewmembers planned their own schedules) was well-received by the crews, mission goals were accomplished, and there were no adverse effects (which echoed positive autonomy findings in other space analog settings.[27] During the high autonomy period, crewmember mood and self-direction were reported as being improved, but mission control personnel reported more anxiety and work role confusion. Despite scoring lower in work pressure overall, the Russian crewmembers reported a greater rise in work pressure from low to high autonomy than the European participants.

Several psychosocial studies were conducted during the actual 520-day mission. Gushin et al.[28] found changes in crewmember time perception, evidence for the displacement of crew tension to mission control, and decreases in crewmember needs and requests during high autonomy, which suggested that they had adapted to this condition. Sandal[29] reported that the crew exhibited increased homogeneity in values and more reluctance to express negative interpersonal feelings over time, which suggested a tendency toward “groupthink”. Van Baarsen et al.[30] found that the crewmembers experienced increased feelings of loneliness and perceived lower support from colleagues over time, which had a negative effect on cognitive adaptation. Basner et al.[31] used wrist actigraphy, the psychomotor vigilance test, and various subjective measures to study the crew and found a number of individual differences in terms of sleep pattern, mood, and conflicts with mission control. Finally, Tafforin[32] evaluated fixed video recordings of crew behavior during breakfasts and found variations in personal actions, visual interactions, and facial expressions, but a general decrease in group collective time from the outbound to the return phase of the simulated flight to Mars.

As is the case for many Earth-bound space analog studies, one must be careful in generalizing findings such as these to actual space missions, since real danger and microgravity were absent in this simulation, and since only one crew was studied. However, the results serve to highlight possible issues that must be considered, and raise questions to evaluate further under real spacelight conditons.


Psychosocial and Psychiatric Issues during an Expedition to Mars

Kanas<Kanas, N. (2010). Expedition to Mars: Psychological, interpersonal, and psychiatric issues. J. Cosmology, 12:3741-2747, JournalofCosmology.com, Oct.-Nov., 2010</ref>[33] has identified several issues that may impact on crewmembers during an expeditionary mission to Mars. In terms of selection, not everyone in the astronaut corps will volunteer to be away from family and friends for the two to three year mission, so the pool of possible crewmembers will be restricted and possibly skewed psychologically in ways that cannot be foreseen. Little is known about the physical and psychological impact of long-duration microgravity and the high radiation that occurs in deep space. In addition, on Mars the crewmembers will be subjected to 38% Earth gravity, and the impact of this situation on their physical and emotional well-being is unknown. Given the long distances involved, the crew must be trained to function autonomously and develop their own work schedules and solve operational emergencies. They must also be able to deal with medical and psychiatric emergencies, such as physical trauma due to accidents and suicidal or psychotic thinking due to stress and depression. Basic life support and staples such as water and fuel will need to be provided from resources on Mars and its atmosphere. There will be a great deal of leisure time (especially during the outbound and return phases of the mission), and occupying it meaningfully and flexibly may be a challenge.

Furthermore, during on-orbit or lunar missions a number of interventions have been implemented successfully to support crewmember psychological well-being. These have included family conferences in real time (i.e., with no appreciable delays), frequent consultations with mission control, and the sending of gifts and favorite foods on resupply ships to enhance morale. Such actions have helped to provide stimulation and counter the effects of isolation, loneliness, asthenization, and limited social contact. But with the delays in crew-ground communication and the inability to send needed resupplies in a timely manner due to the vast distances between the crewmembers on Mars and people back home, the currently used Earth-based support strategies will be seriously constrained. Finally, recall that gazing at the Earth’s beauty has been rated as the major positive factor of being in space. For expeditionary crewmembers, the experience of an Earth-out-of-view phenomenon may enhance their sense of isolation and produce increased feelings of homesickness, depression and irritability that may result in suicidal thinking or aggression towards fellow crewmembers.


Conclusions

It is important to continue to study the long-term effects of psychological, interpersonal and psychiatric issues on space crews in planning for an expeditionary mission to Mars or even to a near-Earth asteroid (which is currently being considered). The International Space Station could be used as a research analog for the microgravity outbound and return phases of such an expedition, and the Moon’s surface could be used as an analog for working on a partial-gravity planet-like surface. The experiences gained from a Mars or asteroid mission will help prepare for future expeditions to the planets in the outer solar system. In the process, countermeasures can be developed and tested that will allow future space crews to function independently and successfully achieve mission goals as humans venture forth even further into the cosmos.


References

  1. ^ a b Kanas, N., Manzey, D. (2008). Space Psychology and Psychiatry, 2nd Edition. El Segundo, California: Microcosm Press; and Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
  2. ^ Kanas, N., Salnitskiy, V., Grund, E.M., Gushin, V., Weiss, D.S., Kozerenko, O., Sled, A., Marmar, C.R. (2000). Interpersonal and cultural issues involving crews and ground personnel during Shuttle/Mir space missions. Aviat., Space, Environ. Med., 71 (9, Suppl.), A11-16.
  3. ^ Kanas, N., Salnitskiy, V., Weiss, D.S., Grund, E.M., Gushin, V., Kozerenko, O., Sled, A., Bostrom, A., Marmar, C.R. (2001). Crewmember and ground personnel interactions over time during Shuttle/Mir space missions. Aviat., Space, Environ. Med., 72, 453-461.
  4. ^ Kanas, N.A., Salnitskiy, V.P., Boyd, J.E., Gushin, V.I., Weiss, D.S., Saylor, S.A., Kozerenko, O.P., Marmar, C.R. (2007). Crewmember and mission control personnel interactions during International Station Missions. Aviat., Space, Environ. Med., 78, 601-607.
  5. ^ Boyd, J.E., Kanas, N.A., Salnitskiy, V.P., Gushin, V.I., Saylor, S.A., Weiss, D.S., Marmar, C.R. (2009). Cultural differences in crewmembers and mission control personnel during two space station programs. Aviat., Space, Environ. Med., 80, 1-9.
  6. ^ Bechtel, R.B., Berning, A. (1991). The third-quarter phenomenon: Do people experience discomfort after stress has passed? In: A.A. Harrison, Y.A. Clearwater, C.P., McKay, eds. From Antarctica to Outer Space. New York: Springer-Verlag.
  7. ^ Gushin, V.I., Zaprisa, N.S., Kolinitchenko, T.B., Efimov, V.A., Smirnova, T.M., Vinokhodova, A.G., Kanas, N. (1997). Content analysis of the crew communication with external communicants under prolonged isolation. Aviat., Space, Environ. Med., 68, 1093-1098.
  8. ^ Gushin, V.I. (2003). Problems of distant communication of isolated small groups. Human Physiol., 29, 548-555.
  9. ^ Gushin. V.I., Pustynnikova, J.M., Smirnova, T.M. (2001). Interrelations between the small isolated groups with homogeneous and heterogeneous composition. Human Perf. in Extreme Environ., 6, 26-33.
  10. ^ Gushin, V.I., Efimov, V.A., Smirnova, T.M., Vinokhodova, A.G, Kanas, N. (1998). Subject's perception of the crew interaction dynamics under prolonged isolation. Aviat., Space, Environ. Med., 69, 556-561.
  11. ^ Vinokhodova, A.G., Gushin, V.I. (2012). Study of values and interpersonal perception in cosmonauts on board of International Space Station. Paper # IAC-12-A1.1.8. International Astronautical Federation. Proceedings, 63th International Astronautical Congress, Naples, Italy, October 1-5, 2012.
  12. ^ Tomi, L., Kealey, D., Lange, M., Stefanowska, P., Doyle, V. (2007). Cross-cultural training requirements for long-duration space missions: Results of a survey of International Space Station astronauts and ground support personnel. Paper delivered at the Human Interactions in Space Symposium, May 21, 2007, Beijing, China.
  13. ^ Nechaev, A.P., Polyakov, V.V., Morukov, B.V. (2007). Martian manned mission: What cosmonauts think about this. Acta Astronaut., 60, 351-353.
  14. ^ Sandal, G.M., Manzey, D. (2009). Cross-cultural issues in space operations: A survey study among ground personnel of the European Space Agency. Acta Astronaut., 65, 1520-1529.
  15. ^ Stuster, J. (2010). Behavioral Issues Associated with Long-Duration Space Expeditions: Review and Analysis of Astronaut Journals. Experiment 01-E104 (Journals): Final Report. NASA/TM-2010-216130. Houston, Texas: NASA/Johnson Space Center.
  16. ^ Aldrin, E.E. (1973). Return to Earth. New York: Random House.
  17. ^ Myasnikov, V.I., Zamaletdinov, I.S. (1996). Psychological states and group interactions of crew members in flight. In: A.E. Nicogossian, S.R. Mohler, O.G. Gazenko, A.I. Grigoriev, eds. Space Biology and Medicine III: Humans in Spaceflght. Book 2. Reston, VA: AIAA.
  18. ^ Aleksandrovskiy, Y.A. (1976). States of Psychic Deadaptation and their Compensation. Moscow: Nauka Press (In Russian).
  19. ^ Myasnikov, V.I., Stepanova, S.I., Salnitskiy, V,P., Kozerenko, O.P., and Nechaev, A.P. (2000). Problems of Psychic Asthenization in Prolonged Space Flight. Moscow: Slovo Press (In Russian).
  20. ^ Kanas, N., Salnitskiy, V., Gushin, V., Weiss, D.S., Grund, E.M., Flynn, C., Kozerenko, O., Sled, A., Marmar, C.R. (2001). Asthenia – Does it exist in space? Psychosom. Med., 63, 874-880.
  21. ^ . Palinkas, L.A. (1991). Group adaptation and individual adjustment in Antarctica: A summary of recent research. In: A.A. Harrison, Y.A. Clearwater, C.P., McKay, eds. From Antarctica to Outer Space. New York: Springer-Verlag.
  22. ^ 27. Ihle, E.C., Ritsher, J.B., Kanas, N. (2006). Positive psychological outcomes of space flight: An empirical study. Aviat. Space, Environ. Med., 77, 93-101.
  23. ^ Suedfeld, P., Legkaia, K., Brcic, J. (2010). Changes in the hierarchy of value references associated with flying in space. J. Personality, 78(5), 1-25.
  24. ^ Urbina, D., Charles, R. (2012). Enduring the isolation of interplanetary travel: A personal account of the Mars 500 mission. Paper # IAC-12-A1.1.1. International Astronautical Federation. Proceedings, 63th International Astronautical Congress, Naples, Italy, October 1-5, 2012.
  25. ^ Kanas, N., Saylor, S., Harris, M., Neylan, T., Boyd, J., Weiss, D.S., Baskin, P., Cook, C., Marmar, C. (2010). High vs. low crewmember autonomy in space simulation environments. Acta Astronaut., 67, 731-738.
  26. ^ Kanas, N., Harris, M., Neylan, T., Boyd, J., Weiss, D.S., Cook, C., Saylor, S. (2011). High vs. low crewmember autonomy during a 105-day Mars simulation mission. Acta Astronaut., 69, 240-244.
  27. ^ Roma, P.C., Hursh, S.R., Hienz, R.D., Brinson, Z.S., Gasior, E.D., Brady, J.V. (2012). Interactive effects of autonomous operations and circadian factors on crew performance, behavior, and stress physiology. Paper # IAC-12-A1.1.11. International Astronautical Federation. Proceedings, 63th International Astronautical Congress, Naples, Italy, October 1-5, 2012.
  28. ^ Gushin, V., Shved, D., Ehmann, B., Balazss, L., Komarevtsev, S. (2012). Crew-MC interactions during communication delay in Mars-500. Paper # IAC-12-A1.1.2. International Astronautical Federation. Proceedings, 63th International Astronautical Congress, Naples, Italy, October 1-5, 2012.
  29. ^ Sandal, G.M. (2012). “Groupthink” on a mission to Mars: Results from a 520 days space simulation study. Paper # IAC-12-A1.1.3. International Astronautical Federation. Proceedings, 63th International Astronautical Congress, Naples, Italy, October 1-5, 2012.
  30. ^ Van Baarsen, B., Ferlazzo, F., Ferravante, D., Smit, J., van der Pligt, J., van Duijn, M, (2012). The effects of extreme isolation on loneliness and cognitive control processes: Analyses of the Lodgead data obtained during the Mars105 and the Mars520 studies. Paper # IAC-12-A1.1.4. International Astronautical Federation. Proceedings, 63th International Astronautical Congress, Naples, Italy, October 1-5, 2012.
  31. ^ Basner, M., Dinges, D., Mollicone, D., Savelev, I., Ecker, A., Di Antonio, A., Jones, C., Hyder, E., Kan, K., Morukov, B., Sutton, J. (2012). Behaviour, performance and psychosocial issues in space. Paper # IAC-12-A1.1.5. International Astronautical Federation. Proceedings, 63th International Astronautical Congress, Naples, Italy, October 1-5, 2012.
  32. ^ Tafforin, C. (2012). The Mars-500 crew in daily life activities: Ethological study. Paper # IAC-12-A1.1.6. International Astronautical Federation. Proceedings, 63th International Astronautical Congress, Naples, Italy, October 1-5, 2012.
  33. ^ Kanas, N. (2011). From Earth’s orbit to the outer planets and beyond: Psychological issues in space. Acta Astronaut., 68, 576-581.

This article has been changed in reaction to the editor's helpful comments in the following ways:

1. The style is more encyclopedic, and subjective information has been deleted. 2. As a result, the article is shorter, and the title has been changed to reflect the content. 3. The references have been put in ref/ref format.

[User:Kanasnick|Kanasnick]] (talk) 23:46, 3 January 2013 (UTC)Kanasnick

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Psychological_and_sociological_effects_of_spaceflight&oldid=531332545"