Effects of Isolation on States of Consciousness

Abstract

The first systematic psychological studies of Antarctic personnel were conducted by Mullin and his psychologist colleagues Connery and Wouters during the 1958 International Geophysical Year. Subjects consisted of 85 men who were nearing the end of their wintering-over isolation period at a number of stations. One of the most exciting and dramatic discoveries of this work provided the basis for my own line of research over the past 10 years. Mullin, Connery, and Wouters (1958) found that 30 of their 85 subjects reported having experienced “absentmindedness” and “wandering of attention.” The response was noted only after several months in Antarctic isolation. The investigators concluded that the change in alertness or awareness was “a striking phenomenon” requiring further study (Mullin, 1960, p. 324). In a few cases the reaction was considered so extreme as to take the form of a “fugue state.” The individual would recall leaving his quarters, but nothing thereafter until he “came to” later in some other part of the station wondering how he got to that area and why he was there. Since the occurrence of fugue-like, or dissociative, trance states under conditions of restricted environmental stimulation (REST) is consistent with E. R. Hilgard’s (1977, 1979) neodissociation theory of hypnotic phenomena, it seemed appropriate to explore the possibility of an increase in hypnotic susceptibility as a consequence of Antarctic living.