Psychological Hibernation in Antarctica

Abstract

Human activity in Antarctica has increased sharply in recent years. In particular during the winter months, people are exposed to long periods of isolation and confinement and an extreme physical environment that poses risks to health, well-being and performance. The present study aimed to gain a better understanding of processes contributing to psychological resilience in this context. Specifically, the study examined how the use of coping strategies changed over time, and the extent to which changes coincided with alterations in mood and sleep. Two crews (N = 27) spending approximately 10 months at the Concordia station completed the Utrecht Coping List, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and a structured sleep diary at regular intervals (x 9). The results showed that several variables reached a minimum value during the midwinter period, which corresponded to the third quarter of the expedition. The effect was particularly noticeable for coping strategies (i.e., active problem solving, palliative reactions, avoidance, and comforting cognitions). The pattern of results could indicate that participants during Antarctic over-wintering enter a state of psychological hibernation as a stress coping mechanism.

Psychological impact of a country-wide lockdown. Role of personal, behavioral, social, and physical conditions on negative and positive affect and meaning in life

“…Weber et al (2019) observed that negative affect was not altered by isolation, in contrast, positive affect tended to decrease as confinement progressed. A similar pattern of emotional response is identified in confinement under extreme environments (e.g., Sandal et al, 2018). Similarly, being confined with others can have paradoxical effects, such as expressing a need to interact with others but with little intimacy, or expecting others to establish close relationships but preferring to maintain little social interaction (Paul et al, 2010).…”

‘White Mars’ – nearly two decades of biomedical research at the Antarctic Concordia station

“…Furthermore, mature defence mechanisms, using problem‐solving strategies, has been shown to be more beneficial than immature defence mechanisms (based on behavioural withdrawal of acting out) for coping purposes (Nicolas et al., 2016). Coping has also been shown to be influenced by the time of the year (seasonal effects), up to the extent that during winter months, winterers became more indifferent (Sandal, van de Vijver, & Smith, 2018). This sort of ‘psychological hibernation’ has been suggested to be a coping strategy in itself.…”

“…Nicolas and colleagues investigated the impact of a 1-year wintering in Concordia on affective, social, personality and cognitive outcomes (Nicolas, Suedfeld, Weiss, & Gaudino, 2016). More specifically, the the extent to which these changes were linked with changes in mood and sleep (Sandal et al 2018). They found that at midwinter, when conditions were harshest, resources were more depleted, participants were less involved in any form of coping, and reported less positive affect (effect sizes between 0.32 and 0.82 for coping strategies, depending on use of linear or quadratic time-based models; effect size of 0.43 for positive affect).…”

Relations Between Daily Events, Coping Strategies and Health During a British Army Ski Expedition Across Antarctica

“…When responding, participants were asked to think about how they react when confronted with a problem and answer on a 4-point scale ranging from 1 (seldom or never) to 4 (very often). The UCL has demonstrated adequate validity and reliability in prior studies (Sandal, van der Vijver, & Smith, 2018;Sandal, Endresen, Vaernes, & Ursin, 1999).…”