Psychologic and psychophysiologic response to 105 days of social isolation

The responses of nine subjects to 105 d of social isolation are reported. The study reveals that crew selection plus ongoing support by psychiatric staff permits continued function in an exotic milieu. Prediction of psychophysiologic symptoms was possible using paper and pencil tests. Trait anxiety was altered by the isolation in a psychologically healthy direction. Sudden time shifts of 8 h led to an immediate significant increase in depression, aggression, and hostility, and are accompanied by marked increases in physical symptoms. During the first free-running phase of the experiment, significant shifts were found on four psychological measures. The shifts indicate that subjects became less trusting, more orderly, more routinized, less energetic, and more depressed. A reducer-augmenter scale predicted the number of psychophysiologic complaints reported by individual subjects while isolated. A group interaction effect on circadian rhythms was isolated but needs further examination.