Palinkas cited more recent examples of polar syndrome at research stations, including one staffer clubbing another with a claw hammer and another beating a co-worker with a pipe. The effort to establish a scientific base in the Arctic descended into mutiny, lunacy, suicide and cannibalism, leaving only six survivors from a crew of 25 men.ĭr. The two academics detailed cases of polar expeditions gone wrong, including the Greely expedition to Ellesmere Island in the 1880s. "If you ate with that same person day in and day out for six months, suddenly the way they chew their food is enough to drive you crazy." Palinkas, who has ventured to the Antarctic seven times. "Say there's somebody you go to lunch with and you don't notice the way that they eat," said Dr. The researchers interviewed people on polar expeditions, reviewed diaries of early polar explorers and examined data from countries that maintain permanent polar research stations.Īpart from anecdotal reports of "polar madness" and cabin fever, the researchers said, little has been published about the psychological demands of expeditions in frigid and dangerous conditions far from family and friends.ĭepending on the time of year, these places can remain in darkness or light for months on end.
Palinkas wrote the paper in The Lancet medical journal along with Peter Suedfeld of the University of British Columbia. Some people just can't handle the confinement, with seeing the same people day in and day out for extended periods of time."ĭr. "Some people can get clinically depressed. "Some people may have difficulty adjusting to the light-dark cycles, and so they can never get a decent night's sleep and experience a sleep disorder," Dr. "Polar madness can take a variety of shapes," said Lawrence Palinkas, an anthropologist at the University of Southern California. About one in 20 endure psychological disturbances severe enough to merit treatment with medication or therapy, the researchers said.
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