Psychology of Isolation and Confinement – From Space to COVID-19

Isn’t this surreal? First couple of weeks it looked like a weird dream, but now, 4 weeks after the lockdown it starts looking as a new albeit strange reality. Most probably, we are in this for a long haul and will need some good coping strategies. If anything, human beings are adaptive and resilient. So, let’s see what can we learn and take with us on this surreal journey.

Last week, I addressed the issue of social isolation, what research in psychology can teach us about it, and the importance of keeping meaningful social contacts while maintaining physical distancing.

This week, as I have been settling down into this new routine of voluntary confinement, my brain brought some interesting association from my life-long fascination with science fiction. Sitting in your home for couple of weeks, doesn’t it feel like we are in some space station? I know, I know… there is still gravity in my house and I can still go out to No Frills and for a walk every evening.

I don’t know about you, but I never spent so many days in a row within the same pretty limiting environment. Inside, day after day. It is unusual and strange experience and looks like we will have it for some time, so maybe it is time to see what do we know about the psychology of isolation and confinement. It is unnatural for people to be confined for long periods of time. What should we know about the psychology of isolation and confinement and how we can prepare for it?

In the evolution of mankind, cooperation has been proven advantageous for survival. Sharing of specialized tasks and the division of labor into different professions have enabled the development of well-functioning modern societies. Isolation and exclusion from a social group as well as confinement have been forms of punishment since the early ages and continue to be the case in societies and prisons all over the world. However, even voluntary confinement has been shown to cause stress on individuals.

Interestingly, confinement studies have been performed in psychological research to simulate the psychological effects that may be experienced on a long-term space flight. Apparently, we have been preparing to travel to Mars!

Scientists have suggested few factors that could affect stress levels during prolonged space travels (1, 2). See for yourself whether you find any similarities with current COVID-19 self-isolation:

• microgravity
• monotony and boredom resulting from low workload and hypostimulation
• lack of comfort
• confinement and isolation involving limited social relationships such as the separation from family and friends

Scientist have started studying human ability and possible dangers for long duration space flights more than 20 years ago. The Simulation of Flight of the International Crew on the Space Station (SFINCSS-99) isolation study was conducted at the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in Moscow in 1999-2000. The first group consisted of four Russian males who were confined for 240 days in a 100-m³ combined working and sleeping room.

The second group comprised of four males and spent 110 days in a 200-m³ area with separated dorms for every subject. European Space Agency (ESA) in cooperation with the IBPM organized MARS500 program to perform further isolation studies. They designed a 550-m³ habitat with four interconnected modules under artificial light to mimic and investigate psycho-physiological impact of prolonged isolation on 520-day flight to Mars.

To prepare for this longer duration study, a 105-day isolation study (MARS105) was performed in 2009 to gather information about the facilities and the candidates. They investigated the effects of long-term confinement in a group of six volunteers during a spaceflight simulation to Mars. Two years later, a full 520-day isolation study was also performed.

Here are the major points we can learn from these studies. As usual, those who are interested in the details can read it in the Science section below:

Science:

A general psycho-physiological model assumes that mood and cognitive functioning are impaired during confinement as a result of an absence of physical activity. However, it was shown, that acute psychic stress, as measured by a self-evaluation questionnaire, did not occur in participants neither during the 110-day nor during the 240-day confinement.

Mid-term isolation during Mars105 did not affect the participants’ overall health as much as during longer confinement in Mars520. There was no evidence of altered subjective psychological stress level, HPA activity, or changed sleep patterns during Mars105 (3).

By contrast, when volunteers were confined for 520 days, the neuroendocrine stress responses were significantly altered. During long-term confinement, crew sedentariness increased across the mission as evident in decreased waking movement and increased sleep and rest times.

The majority of crewmembers also experienced one or more disturbances of sleep quality, vigilance deficits, or altered sleep–wake periodicity and timing, suggesting inadequate circadian entrainment, which was paralleled by reduced positive emotion ratings.

However, interestingly emotional energy, work self-efficacy, and perceived similarity gradually increased in the course of the simulation (4). In terms of long-term effects, the results revealed a group effect that the Mars520 group had higher peak levels of cortisol responses to the free-fall challenge.

These results are in line with various previous chronic stress studies performed in model animals and a few human studies, which suggested exposure to chronic stress may lead to long-lasting changes in responses to an acute stressor (5).

During the 105-days isolation, it was found that physical exercise helped to counteract psychophysiological deconditioning during long-term confinement. Even short bouts of exercise of approximately 80% maximal intensity seem to have a positive effect on brain cortical activity and mood as a result (6).

A significant decrease in positive emotion was found for all the participants throughout the experiment, indicating that ICE environments might induce some changes in psychological states. Coping strategies on the task-oriented dimension were associated with mature defense, which was also associated with positive emotion. Coping strategies on the disengagement-oriented dimension were linked to symptoms of depression (7).

References:

1. Manzey, D. (2004). Human missions to Mars: New psychological challenges and research issues. Acta Astronautica, 55, 781-790.
2. Suedfeld, P. (2005). Invulnerability, coping, salutogenesis, integration: Four phases of space psychology. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 76, B61-B66.
3. Gemignani A, Piarulli A, Menicucci D, Laurino M, Rota G, Mastorci F, Gushin V, Shevchenko O, Garbella E, Pingitore A, Sebastiani L, Bergamasco M, L’Abbate A, Allegrini P, Bedini R. How stressful are 105 days of isolation? Sleep EEG patterns and tonic cortisol in healthy volunteers simulating manned flight to Mars. Int J Psychophysiol 93: 211–219, 2014.DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2014.04.008
4. Šolcová I, Gushin V, Vinokhodova A, Lukavský J. Emotional energy, work self-efficacy, and perceived similarity during the Mars 520 study.Aviat Space Environ Med 2013; 84:1186–90.
5. Yi, B., Matzel, S., Feuerecker, M., Hörl, M., Ladinig, C., Abeln, V., … & Schneider, S. (2015). The impact of chronic stress burden of 520-d isolation and confinement on the physiological response to subsequent acute stress challenge. Behavioural brain research, 281, 111-115.
6. Schneider, Stefan & Abeln, Vera & Carnahan, Heather & Kleinert, Jens & Piacentini, Maria Francesca & Meeusen, Romain & Strüder, Heiko. (2010). Exercise as a countermeasure to psycho-physiological deconditioning during long-term confinement. Behavioural brain research. 211. 208-14. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2010.03.034
7. Nicolas, M., Sandal, G. M., Weiss, K., & Yusupova, A. (2013). Mars-105 study: Time-courses and relationships between coping, defense mechanisms, emotions and depression. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 35, 52-58.