Antarctica stories about people losing their minds were reported frequently from expeditions that went there. Instances of madness occurred throughout the twentieth century, even as the research bases were developed, making it less likely to suffer from the elements. Cases continued even with the modernization of research facilities and communications. In the 70s, the U.S. Navy began carrying out regular psychiatric evaluations of all Antarctica personnel. Research found that at each station, separate from each other, cases occurred. People that experienced symptoms were treated by medical staff.

Another study was performed at the McMurdo station in the 1990s. A study of over 300 men and women confirmed that over five percent of those surveyed suffered from a psychiatric disorder. Even though lower than the average in the USA, it should be noted that all participants were screened before for such disorders and none of them have had them. This means, they developed it while in Antarctica. There are many Antarctica stories that can be found in history with cases of people going mad. We still do not know why.

Scholars and scientists today talk about “polar madness”, a general title we gave this unknown. From the 1890s until the 1920s, explorers documented dozens of cases of manic, delusional, and violent behavior amongst such cases. Even know today, we are experiencing strange things in such regards. Even the Inuit supposedly had a word to describe such episodes, “Pibloktoq”. They themselves amongst their people experience such episodes.

Is isolation, confinement, and fear the primary stressors in Antarctica that drives people mad? Some men simply have never experienced a winter and such harsh conditions. A merciless environment. Desolate continent, far from anything known. Some may just lose hope there. With today’s technology and ability to stay connected it is less likely. Survival is an easier job these days. Travel there is much less of an investment in comparison to historical expeditions. Why is it still happening to staff that stays in Antarctica than? We simply do not know.

There are theories from different sources that stipulated what causes “polar madness” but nothing has been proven. There is no concrete evidence of this phenomena. Maybe until we research Antarctica in more depth, we will not find out. Antarctica stories can certainly be strange. What else is there? What will men find in Antarctica? Time itself will tell.  There are fun fiction (or are they) stores you can read such as Arctic Ave by author Daniel River.

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The decades of wild Antarctic explorations cemented the continent’s reputation as an inherently strange place. Still today in Antarctic research stations, as modern amenities dull the isolation, people can experience psychiatric mysteries. The digital communications keep year-round personnel in touch with the outside world, but this mystery keeps lurking in the stations and Antarctica. A place that seems to deteriorate people as they stay there.

In the extreme conditions of the Antarctic, these crises could trigger violent impulses. During an expedition to the Ross Sea, in the winter of 1902, “one man’s mind gave way,” witnesses wrote. People who go mad in the Antarctic tend to go mad in similar ways. Those affected are prone to hallucinations and paranoid delusions. They often stray from the ship or the base without notifying their colleagues, as if they believed they could walk back to civilization. And they are typically obsessed with violence, either threatening murder or fearing it or both.

Experts today associate “polar madness,”, with a combination of environmental factors like the cold and the dark—which can disrupt circadian rhythms and hormonal balances—and psychos-ocial factors, such as isolation, confinement, monotony, and the interpersonal conflicts that inevitably arise among small groups forced to spend a lot of time together. It has been observed on both ends of the earth. But a distinction must be made between winter-over syndrome, a sense of brain-fog and disorientation that amounts to a particularly acute form of cabin fever, and the rarer cases of actual psychosis. Does this though explain everything that travelers and explorers have been experiencing over the last couple hundred years in Antarctica?

What can be causing such an impact on humans in Antarctica? Is there another explanation that is not considered by mainstream. Are there structures under the ice, ancient technology, alien bases, something biological, the list is endless. What potentially can cause us to go mad in Antarctica? If it is as mainstream science is explaining these days, how can we overcome it and protect ourselves from psychiatric disorders? If it is something else, what can it be? There are many questions left unanswered about this topic. Antarctica stories are wild. This one is certainly unique. A psychiatric disorder mystery. People interested into this topic can easily find stories of expeditions’ experiencing this, going back far in time. Not a recent occurrence. Antarctica is full of mysteries. Some are magical. Others frightening and strange. A place full of mystery waiting to be discovered by us who dare.

Have you read Arctic Ave yet? A mystery thriller that takes the reader to Antarctica. See more about Arctic Ave here.

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