The psychological, indeed, the physiological health of people dwelling in confined environments, is an extremely important area of discussion. And suddenly the topic has come to the fore with news of the return to earth of astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were confined in a space station for a duration of nine months.

In fact this needs to be emphasized that they were not only confined but they were confined in outer space. They existed, for a duration of 286 days, in a metallic instrument surrounded by machinery of various sorts.
The untrained would potentially develop different psychological disorders because the environment was so alien to what humans otherwise are accustomed to.

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But that is not the case with astronauts who are sent on space missions. They necessarily undergo a range of rigorous psychological and physiological trainings which prepares them to deal with extreme and difficult situations. NASA particularly has an outstanding training program for their astronauts and their psychologists and psychiatrists are amongst the world’s best.
Sunita Williams was not new to space travel went she went on this mission (her third mission). She has completed nine spacewalks totaling over sixty hours. In fact, she has set a record for the most spacewalk time by a woman. Her ability to endure psychologically and physiologically should not be compared to that of ordinary people.

Yet that does not take away from the difficult nature of what she and her colleague endured.

The physical detachment from human contact can have critically adverse impact on people’s psychological health. Their detachment was of the extreme kind in which many would have not just felt utterly alone but could have sunk into what we commonly call “depression”.

But when a person has undergone training in psychologically or physiologically surviving stressful situations, the response would be potentially different. The way the trained astronauts dealt with their situation highlights not just personalities that can deal with utterly stressful situations, calmly or with composure, but also that the mind has the potential to be trained to endure extreme stress.

Often we associate stress induced by confinement with the possibility that the individual could become “deranged”.

When we talk about “derangement” we often refer to the brain’s inability fully function. Hence confusion is experienced and often the symptoms are lack of control over one’s own responses to situations. Which is why the idea of “derangement” is associated with things like losing grip on normal behavior and a “deranged” human could either scream, shout, cry or even laugh uncontrollably. They can get violently angry or sink into depression and sulk. This can happen to ordinary people who have been suddenly confined in unnatural environments. It could be a panic response. For instance, often people who find themselves locked in a lift would experience extreme anxiety and behave abnormally. They could fear asphyxiation or suffocation and even before the physiological condition of lack of oxygen can set in they can have a panic attack. The fear of death is often overridden by the fear of suffering. For ordinary individuals, untrained to deal with sudden stressful situations, like confinement, one can advise that they remain calm and think logically rather than panic. Don’t just think the worse.

The astronauts were essentially trained to keep themselves mentally and physically fit. They exercised and they kept their brains and minds active through reading and research. It is also important to note that they were not left unattended. There was constant communication with people down on earth…. not just NASA scientists and psychologists but also their loved ones.

They did not allow fear to set in. That’s the lesson to learn.

The writer is a psychologist.