Psychological Factors for Mars Settlement

William Johns MD

November 2004

Relevance to Mission?

Likely the most critical aspect Often left aside due to its ambiguous nature

and difficulty in answering the questions Safety of Mission/Settlement Depends upon

it Some don’t believe in the process of group

dynamics, its relevance, etc--- Question is “Then why are you in the process?”

Man vs. Machine

A group of individuals are capable of creative solutions, motivation, and support far greater than the sum of their individual parts

So what’s the catch? Invest in relationships or be replaced by something

that isn’t concerned with your well-being Humans are capable of far more, although we are

much more fragile—this may be the irony of our existence; hence emotions, feelings, hope, art

Group of Lone Wolfs vs. the Wolf Pack

Often times we humans romanticize the lone wolf i.e. James Dean, Survivor

In Nature, the loan wolf isn’t there by choice, the pack left it to die

We as humans are actually hard wired to be in relationships; exceptions may be autism

Keeping with the animal metaphor, getting doctors to work together often times is like herding cats

Why all of the Shock Value in This Presentation

I did this because often times people acknowledge or say they acknowledge the importance of psychological well-being, group process, sound mind, body, and spirit

But In interpersonal relationships actions are

required not just cognitions or awareness Remember Sir Isaac Newton

Remembering Sir Isaac Newton

Taken from the third of Sir Isaac Newton's laws of physics: every action has an equal and opposite reaction

If you believe that in human relationships the sum is greater than the individual parts then,

We are both capable of incredible successes and failures

Examples

The First Human Mars Settlement 9/11 The emotions you are all feeling upon reading the

above Character evolves out of living through both and

persevering, living in reality vs. fantasy, and experiencing all of the emotions that go along with that

Psychological Factors Related to a Mars Settlement

Effects of living in a limited space enclosed environment and ways to improve its desirability

Group psychology for the initial settlers Effects  of isolation due to distance and limited

transport capacity from earth and how to reduce Selection of candidates for initial settlers Raising children Other topics appropriate to settlement psychology

Effects of living in a limited space enclosed environment and ways to improve its desirability

Sensory deprivation has been found to uncover or unmask psychiatric illness

Much experimentation has been done with sensory deprivation tank studies

Although difficult to appreciate without having been there, sensory deprivation can/will effect autonomic nervous system both acute and chronically

Examples can include cardiovascular effects, mental, the entire mind/body connection

Living In Close Quarters

Best experiment is the actual trip Many similar (or felt to be) environments

have been looked at: Previous space missions Arctic/ Sub arctic expeditions Being trapped in Ice fishing vessels (1.5yrs) Submariners

Possible Negative Effects of Living In Close Quarters

Irritability Anhedonia (the inability to find enjoyment) Social Withdrawal Sleep architectural changes Loneliness Lack of positive morale Interpersonal Insensitivity

Problems With Selecting Candidates for In Space Missions

Many people, organizations don’t look at psychological issues on many fronts:

Too much focus is placed on the individual in pre-screening and in pre and post mission counseling

Although the individual is important, group dynamics with the actual members are at least if not more important

What is Known About Long-Duration Missions

Problems will occur, that’s not the problem Problem is how well the group handles and

resolves them, and works to prevent future similar occurrences or at least makes progress on the change process

Much can be directly observed over time if future mission inhabitants work/live together

Individual Factors To Be Considered

This is not an ego thing, the wrong members in space can be dangerous (or more dangerous).

Characteristics suggestive of a successful candidate:

Healthy physically, stabile from a psychiatric standpoint, interpersonally sensitive, able to work in a group setting, flexibility in approach to problem solving

Group Factors to be Considered

How long is the mission (how long could it be)?

How to deal with loss –both in flight vs. loved ones at home

Even though you may be around people on the mission, do they contribute to or can they contribute to one’s sense of family

Group Factors to be Considered

Psychological and physical parameters need to be monitored pre, during, and post mission

This should occur on an individual as well as on a group level

Its common and important to have ones privacy, yet active problem solving in a supportive milieu need occur

This puts a whole new spin on “you can run, but you can not hide!”

Other Factors Relating to Group Function

Cultural Similarities or Differences If multi-cultural, are members truly able to

work with the differences: Hygiene is a factor, culture or otherwise,

food, problem solving, tradition, dominate chain of command vs. supportive leadership

Handling of “scape-goating,” marginalization, group cohesion, morale

Designs With Couples

This can be adaptive in the sense that successful partners tend to work through difficulties by supporting the other through difficult times

Realize that I said successful partners Space divorce is likely problematic Also, anything that is difficult to work through on land

will likely be as hard or harder to work through in close living environments

I can see having a doctor on board, but attorneys? If you are an attorney, I’m not apologizing but I

realize paybacks can be hell

Best Predictors of Success

Previous Successes In the Individual Previous Successes In the Actual Group Healthy Mind, Body—needs to be determined, can’t

just be our own opinions As an aside I have been asked to see many

“problem kids with completely normal parents.” In any relationship it is rarely a 100% to 0% relationship. I’ve seen 80/20 to a 50/50 assignment 95%of the time.

Other Factors Predictive of Success

Leadership that is able to encourage growth and sustenance of a positive morale with encouragement

Interpersonally sensitive leadership style—this is not too difficult when all is well

Being consistent yet flexible, and being able to maintain group cohesiveness

It is difficult to go from chaos to flexibility without having first established structure.

Structure without flexibility can turn to dogma

Other Factors Predictive of Success cont.

Interpersonal Skills Training Supportive partnerships both in-space mission and

from earth Group cohesiveness Unfortunately for the ground controllers, this has

usually meant that the in space crew gets together to bash the ground control. Compatibility from a distance may be another issue to be considered

Other Factors Predictive of Success cont.

Being able to treat medical conditions from the site and from a distance

Limits to monotony, and simple repetitive task completion

Ever Wonder Why Telemarketers Have Short Careers?

Repetitive Tasks Interpersonally insensitive from either side Lack of true human relationships No prior relationship with their clients Limited pre, during, and post telemarketing job support, and/or

interpersonal problem solving skills training Focus is on technicalities of marketing plan, and making a sale,

not on psychological and/or social well-being Attitude from above is “There is an ass for every seat”

Improving Livability

Means to exercise Having Space (but not too much) Partnerships, possibly animals, earthlings tend to live

longer when in relationships (healthy ones), have pets, have healthy lifestyles, and love what they do

Hostility tends to shorten life span and has been correlated with decreased heart rate variability (hrv) which likely would be a good variable to monitor and do research on before, during, and after the mission

Improving Livability cont.

Finding empathic crew-members is key—this is difficult to teach

Empathy has been the only consistent variable on how effective therapists are in counseling regardless of their approach

This is why a high school coach can be as effective as a therapist for many

I do believe some therapists are talented similar to artists

By the way, Freud was actually a neurologist

Group Psychology for the Initial Settlers

Many basic principles of group psychology will be similar regardless of setting

I can give a lecture with applicable details at a later time if interested

For a more in-depth view on the matter, please refer to Yalom

BTW he also writes psychological suspense novels

Group Psychology for the Initial Settlers cont.

Often times the focus is on individual pre-selection criteria

Again with group function, some aspects are unique to a given group, and others are not. This would need to be monitored: pre, during, and post.

Increased duration generally correlates with increased dysfunction, although this can largely be prevented and dealt with if anticipated

Group Psychology for the Initial Settlers cont.

The most difficult period for individuals is after the mission as the adjustment to a different way of life must occur

Ever notice that those who lament over their Glory Days tend to drink a lot of beer?

Support for After the Mission

Support groups for space travelers would likely need to occur similar to post war trauma groups

These would need to be specific to the mission For example the PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress

Disorder, clinics at the Veterans Hospitals tend to not mix soldiers together from different wars

Hence the importance of a shared human experience. This is also fundamental to the healing process.

Handling Trauma as a Group

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing is commonly employed although has mixed data on efficacy

Medical/Psychiatric counsel and means would need to be dealt with

Entire protocols would need to be developed, both evidence based, and thereafter based upon what ever works

Issues of law, confinement, governance, are going to occur based upon length of time, numbers involved, etc

Submarines actually have containment cells—this is not fun to talk about or consider, although it would be foolish not to look at all of the possibilities

Raising Children

Not only a concern for the given parents, but to anyone living in the extended family

This is something that should be encouraged and dealt with, question of when

If sustenance is a goal, then we should be able to procreate without having to ship in kids from earth

This gives a whole new meaning to “Are we there yet?”

Raising Children cont.

Actually there would be less earth to Mars adjustment if they were born on mars, and less infusion of diseases. It would be more problematic going from Mars to Earth. An exchange student program would likely be beneficial for kids adjusting to either environment

Warning, this is not politically correct, but IQ does matter Smart kids and parents increase the probability of their having

similar offspring In Singapore their country went from third world to first because

Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew encouraged smart men to marry smart women. This made him quite unpopular for a time, but Singapore went from third world to first by bucking the regression to the mean trend

Change

Often times adults require significant amounts of stress to change

Benefits of children is that they are quite adaptive and can change in minutes to days whereas many times adults change in months to years.

We can teach them much, but can also learn from them as well

The point is that children should be valued as much or more than us as they will likely be our future and could ensure the success of the mission and/or settlement

Change Continued

Freud did not believe that individuals that are post-45 were good candidates for therapy

He believed they could change but that it was financially unrealistic

All adults may need to be screened more carefully as it may be more difficult for them to adapt

Wisdom and IQ

IQ is felt to peak at roughly age 35 Wisdom can more than make up for the

losses thereafter All ages should therefore be considered as

this is how we evolved in society, by giving and giving back as families to one another across generations

Generating a Narrative

One of the best if not the best predictors of healthy psychological functioning and stability comes from those who can put together a balanced narrative of their lives

By understanding ones background and life story, by placing feelings and emotions with their actual events, and by processing this with grief as well as happiness, one comes to appreciate their integrated self. One can then begin to appreciate and address interpersonal functioning on a dyadic and group level

When to start?-all we have is now

The Mars Settlement

Constructing a Narrative

The Beginning

Bibliography

Reviewed roughly 300+ articles, letters, reviews, and analyses

Will generate an exacting, detailed paper with complete references if interested, or if felt to be helpful and/or applicable to the mission

My apologies for limited involvement thus far Thanks for allowing me to present this to you

Email: johnswilliam@bellsouth.net