Cargando…

The Burden of Space Exploration on the Mental Health of Astronauts: A Narrative Review

Space travel, a topic of global interest, has always been a fascinating matter, as its potential appears to be infinite. The development of advanced technologies has made it possible to achieve objectives previously considered dreams and to widen more and more the limits that the human species can o...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Arone, Alessandro, Ivaldi, Tea, Loganovsky, Konstantin, Palermo, Stefania, Parra, Elisabetta, Flamini, Walter, Marazziti, Donatella
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Giovanni Fioriti Editore srl 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8696290/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34984067
http://dx.doi.org/10.36131/cnfioritieditore20210502
_version_ 1784619775632080896
author Arone, Alessandro
Ivaldi, Tea
Loganovsky, Konstantin
Palermo, Stefania
Parra, Elisabetta
Flamini, Walter
Marazziti, Donatella
author_facet Arone, Alessandro
Ivaldi, Tea
Loganovsky, Konstantin
Palermo, Stefania
Parra, Elisabetta
Flamini, Walter
Marazziti, Donatella
author_sort Arone, Alessandro
collection PubMed
description Space travel, a topic of global interest, has always been a fascinating matter, as its potential appears to be infinite. The development of advanced technologies has made it possible to achieve objectives previously considered dreams and to widen more and more the limits that the human species can overcome. The dangers that astronauts may face are not minimal, and the impacts on physical and mental health may be significant. Specifically, symptoms of emotional dysregulation, cognitive dysfunction, disruption of sleep-wake rhythms, visual phenomena and significant changes in body weight, along with morphological brain changes, are some of the most frequently reported occurrences during space missions. Given the renewed interest and investment on space explorations, the aim of this paper was thus to summarize the evidence of the currently available literature, and to offer an overview of the factors that might impair the psychological well-being and mental health of astronauts. To achieve the goal of this paper, the authors accessed some of the main databases of scientific literature and collected evidence from articles that successfully fulfilled the purpose of this work. The results of this review demonstrated how the psychological and psychiatric problems occurring during space missions are manifold and related to a multiplicity of variables, thus requiring further attention from the scientific community as new challenges lie ahead, and prevention of mental health of space travelers should be carefully considered.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8696290
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Giovanni Fioriti Editore srl
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-86962902022-01-03 The Burden of Space Exploration on the Mental Health of Astronauts: A Narrative Review Arone, Alessandro Ivaldi, Tea Loganovsky, Konstantin Palermo, Stefania Parra, Elisabetta Flamini, Walter Marazziti, Donatella Clin Neuropsychiatry Narrative Review Paper Space travel, a topic of global interest, has always been a fascinating matter, as its potential appears to be infinite. The development of advanced technologies has made it possible to achieve objectives previously considered dreams and to widen more and more the limits that the human species can overcome. The dangers that astronauts may face are not minimal, and the impacts on physical and mental health may be significant. Specifically, symptoms of emotional dysregulation, cognitive dysfunction, disruption of sleep-wake rhythms, visual phenomena and significant changes in body weight, along with morphological brain changes, are some of the most frequently reported occurrences during space missions. Given the renewed interest and investment on space explorations, the aim of this paper was thus to summarize the evidence of the currently available literature, and to offer an overview of the factors that might impair the psychological well-being and mental health of astronauts. To achieve the goal of this paper, the authors accessed some of the main databases of scientific literature and collected evidence from articles that successfully fulfilled the purpose of this work. The results of this review demonstrated how the psychological and psychiatric problems occurring during space missions are manifold and related to a multiplicity of variables, thus requiring further attention from the scientific community as new challenges lie ahead, and prevention of mental health of space travelers should be carefully considered. Giovanni Fioriti Editore srl 2021-10 /pmc/articles/PMC8696290/ /pubmed/34984067 http://dx.doi.org/10.36131/cnfioritieditore20210502 Text en © 2021 Giovanni Fioriti Editore s.r.l. This is an open access article. Distribution and reproduction are permitted in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
spellingShingle Narrative Review Paper
Arone, Alessandro
Ivaldi, Tea
Loganovsky, Konstantin
Palermo, Stefania
Parra, Elisabetta
Flamini, Walter
Marazziti, Donatella
The Burden of Space Exploration on the Mental Health of Astronauts: A Narrative Review
title The Burden of Space Exploration on the Mental Health of Astronauts: A Narrative Review
title_full The Burden of Space Exploration on the Mental Health of Astronauts: A Narrative Review
title_fullStr The Burden of Space Exploration on the Mental Health of Astronauts: A Narrative Review
title_full_unstemmed The Burden of Space Exploration on the Mental Health of Astronauts: A Narrative Review
title_short The Burden of Space Exploration on the Mental Health of Astronauts: A Narrative Review
title_sort burden of space exploration on the mental health of astronauts: a narrative review
topic Narrative Review Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8696290/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34984067
http://dx.doi.org/10.36131/cnfioritieditore20210502
work_keys_str_mv AT aronealessandro theburdenofspaceexplorationonthementalhealthofastronautsanarrativereview
AT ivalditea theburdenofspaceexplorationonthementalhealthofastronautsanarrativereview
AT loganovskykonstantin theburdenofspaceexplorationonthementalhealthofastronautsanarrativereview
AT palermostefania theburdenofspaceexplorationonthementalhealthofastronautsanarrativereview
AT parraelisabetta theburdenofspaceexplorationonthementalhealthofastronautsanarrativereview
AT flaminiwalter theburdenofspaceexplorationonthementalhealthofastronautsanarrativereview
AT marazzitidonatella theburdenofspaceexplorationonthementalhealthofastronautsanarrativereview
AT aronealessandro burdenofspaceexplorationonthementalhealthofastronautsanarrativereview
AT ivalditea burdenofspaceexplorationonthementalhealthofastronautsanarrativereview
AT loganovskykonstantin burdenofspaceexplorationonthementalhealthofastronautsanarrativereview
AT palermostefania burdenofspaceexplorationonthementalhealthofastronautsanarrativereview
AT parraelisabetta burdenofspaceexplorationonthementalhealthofastronautsanarrativereview
AT flaminiwalter burdenofspaceexplorationonthementalhealthofastronautsanarrativereview
AT marazzitidonatella burdenofspaceexplorationonthementalhealthofastronautsanarrativereview