Hello, good people!
First of all a big thank you @aboutcoolscience that inspired me, with his contest, to make my brain spark up its few surviving neurons and come up with what i deemed to be an interesting post that I loved making! Alas, now the cringe subdued everything positive that had lived within me so I figured: “ in for a penny in for a pound!”
In regards to mental states that belong to the human condition, I couldn’t help but thinking on what those would turn up to be like in extreme non-terrestrial conditions such as the ones astronauts (aka cosmonauts) endure in their missions.
And these extreme conditions and outcomes of human’s stay in space, mostly in the International Space Station, are found only few hundreds miles/Km’s from Earth.
What would it be like for space travelers to go on a mission to Mars?
The astronauts’ psyche, while on duty, it’s being put under a lot of stress that have great consequences on them despite their resilient nature - paramount in importance when recruited to go on a space mission -.
While it’s a preciously well known fact that their bodies lose their tone due to the lack of gravity, it is less known how troubling it can be for their minds. A very broad array of neurological and psychiatrical symptoms & signs can manifest themselves and here, today, I am going to talk about one of the most peculiar: the hallucinogenic phenomena
Hallucinations
Hallucinations; most fascinating events
( according to the post's author’s outstanding persona ) that happen more often than one would think. If one were to ignore proper medical nomenclature, dreaming could be considered the quintessential hallucination.
In reality, reality is not as real as we think it is given that our brains have evolved, in the spirit of efficiency and survival, to hallucinate in order to create shortcuts.
A clear example of that are the visual oddities that get apparent when we interact with optical illusions.
Reality as we experience is more a projection of our expectations of the reality-to-be than the objective dimension we inhabit.
But what happens when we relocate a terrestrial being, perma-hallucinated as normally is, in the cosmic outbacks?
Stress, isolations and lack of gravity start doing a number on cosmonauts' psychophysical wellbeing, let alone a myriads of other factors, some yet to be unfolded. The hallucinatory phenomenon that goes by the name of Prisoner's Cinema often occurs to prisoners after their prolonged stay in a dark cell. It has been hypothesized to share mechanics with the hallucinations experienced by astronauts during their missions.
Problem: The International Space Station is one thing, but Mars?
Such as they are, outer space situations we have encountered so far, only few hundred miles away from our planet, have been demonstrably proven to be demanding for our brave cosmonauts that end up paying the price with their health. Many think of it solely in terms of physical wellbeing, but the psychological one can be damaged just as much while on duty. Morale is overlooked for how banal it sounds but one apparently banal thing can have huge outcomes, for it can spiral downwards to complete utter disaster.
If so, how do we safeguard the mental state of humans relocated on Mars, with a mission that costs billions of dollars to set up whit its success weighing on theirs shoulders, becoming yet another added stressor ?
Stress often develops in other forms, insomnia being one of those. At that point hallucinations become a matter of when, not if. Those can manifest not only as visual, but also olfactory, auditory, and even extra sensorial (temporal distortions). To be remembered, these individuals are thoroughly screened and get the privilege of going in space only if space agencies believe in their resistance just as much as in their expertise.
So what would the solution be?
Going beyond human boundaries. Beyond the concept of what the living being that
the Homo Sapiens is and make it adapt, hence evolve, in an alien environment.
Genetic treatments and technologies such as CRISPR will surely play a part to reach this objective. Will it be enough? Maybe. Or maybe not.
Psychedelics could be our ace in the hole. Psilocybin, DMT, LSD; these drugs have been receiving a thorough dusting after decades of stigma thanks to their incredible therapeutic index when it comes to neurological/psychiatrical health. These compounds possess the potential to rewire the human brain for better and allow the cosmonauts, under the right circumstances, to fortify their mental constitution.
Growth factors and reduced Default Mode Network ’s activity make them as much as a great resource for space travel as a tool to treat depression and anxiety.
The reasons? They allow us to override, relearn, overwrite, acquire new points of view, and get through barriers that oftentimes hinder people.
Other compounds that already are part of cosmonautical kits, are the so called nootropics. The movie ”Limitless” may ring a bell. It kickstarted this class of drugs that could be of valid use in interplanetary missions.
A question arises now:
The employment of the aforementioned hallucinogens provokes an immediate spike in tolerance to the substance which translates to a downregulation to the relative involved receptor, usually the serotonin
5-HT2A receptor.
Fear not, though. They won’t be entirely hippiefing the astronauts.
Assuming they would though…who’s going to get a hippie wagon on Mars?
Collaterals don’t sound so threatening anymore, do they?
Downregulation processes in serotoninergic/dopaminergic systems can protect the subjects of good mental constitution from hallucinatory events, directly and indirectly. The effects of psychedelic-induced downregulation are transient and they can be beneficial.
Taking sub-perceptual doses of magic mushrooms or LSD, also known as microdosing, has become widespread for its potential in treating depression, and reducing suicidal ideation and anxiety. Boosts in mood and creativity are apparent and the sure ordeal that tripping at work represents is out of the equation. Unless you are not that kind of person, of course.
Why not employing antipsychotics then?
Those prevent psychotic episodes as well as hallucinations in schizophrenics just fine.
Except they don’t.
They do work but would have, at time major, drawbacks revolving around basic performances space travelers have to perform. And when a project as huge as mars colonization is the name of the game, having even a 2% loss in performance can cost millions. On the other hand, if researches were to prove microdosing’s viability as a valid tool for outer - and inner - space’s exploration, it would obviously benefit us all.
This was all the hippie-propaganda in disguise I had for you today
If you can think of any solutions to treat/prevent the mental issues that space explorers will face in the future missions write them in the comment section!
Here some articles that might interest you
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2719038/Sleep-final-frontier-Astronauts-suffer-insomnia-space-putting-lives-danger.html
- https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/05/hallucinations-isolation-astronauts-mental-health-space-missions
- https://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/2015/02/17/do-astronauts-hallucinate/
Yours,
- Destrudo