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Soviet psychologist Beregovoi and others roughly divided the development of manned space science into three periods: the first period mainly solved the problem of technical devices flying into space. The second period is to solve biological problems. The third period is to solve psychological problems. Although there are no reports of obvious functional damage and task damage caused by adverse psychological reactions in space so far, a large number of scientific documents and anecdotes in the space field of the United States and the Soviet Union have recorded many adverse psychological reactions. Therefore, some experts believe that with the extension of manned space flight time and the increasing complexity of flight tasks, relatively routine flight, the increase of crew and heterogeneity may produce considerable psychological pressure and lead to unresolved psychological and social problems or dangers.

And the safety of life and the completion of the task. Besides, some psychological stress can be fatal. British and Soviet space activity analysis experts once thought that several Soviet space students had died of this psychological pressure during training. This paper briefly expounds some psychological problems in manned space flight and ground simulation research.

Psychological stress and excitement in space flight

Stress is a common and interesting problem, and many scholars have done a lot of research from different angles of medicine, physiology, sociology, anthropology and psychology, because stress will affect people's physical and mental health. Experts believe that more than half of human diseases are related to stress. It is estimated by literature that about 75%~90% of all diseases prevalent in western society are related to stress. The concept of stress has developed greatly since it was put forward by 1936, and there are different opinions, which can be roughly divided into three categories: (l) stress is the body's response to harmful stimuli, and some schools study it from the perspective of response; (2) Stress is the stimulation of harmful environment to the body, and it is the study of stress from the perspective of stimulation by psychologists, with emphasis on psychosocial stimulation; (3) Stress is the process of interaction between organism and environment. This is a comprehensive theory of pressure interaction. According to this theoretical view, the concept of psychological stress is the mental and physical tension when the demand for knowledge and the ability to meet this demand are unbalanced. Here, "consciousness" emphasizes individual's cognitive evaluation, "demand" includes both physiological stressors and psychosocial stressors, "ability" refers to individual's internal and external resources (such as individual characteristics, coping ability and social support), and psychosomatic tension is the result or reaction of stress. In the space environment, stress is multifaceted, and its sources can be divided into four categories: physiology, physiology, psychology and interpersonal. The so-called stimulus refers to any stimulus that poses a threat to the body, collectively known as stimulus. Physical excitation sources include weightlessness, microgravity, acceleration, temperature change, radiation, magnetic field, environmental noise, lighting, instrument display, cabin atmosphere, food and waste discharge, etc. Physiological factors include circadian rhythm changes, body fluid transfer, muscle disuse, bone decalcification and so on. Psychological factors include isolation, limited space, solitude, separation from family and friends, professional motivation, limited or insufficient time, use of leisure time, decreased sensory input, increased sensory input, fear of equipment failure, danger or emergency, alternation of monotonous and extreme activities, etc. Interpersonal factors include interpersonal friction, passenger heterogeneity, passenger size, cultural and gender differences, personality conflicts, nationality and leadership relations.

Psychological influence of space flight on astronauts and psychiatric problems

The psychological impact of isolation on astronauts Isolation refers to isolating their bodies from the social environment, which can be individuals or small groups. Isolation may be an important source of psychological stress. Isolation means general separation from family, friends and society, loss of various relationships, loss of role played on the earth, loss of friendship and respect, etc. Jet pilots have experienced this parting reaction when they leave the ground. Some people are depressed, some are happy, and some are unaffected. A study in Poland shows that about 35% pilots complain about loneliness and unpleasant reactions when they leave the ground, as well as other emotional reactions, such as anxiety, tension, lack of self-confidence, fear of flying mistakes, hallucinations and disorientation.

In the early days of space exploration, isolation or sensory deprivation was considered as a serious psychological problem. The results of many ground simulation studies (such as scientific exploration of the North and South Poles, nuclear submarines, submarine laboratories and space simulation experiments, etc.). ) shows that people's reactions to isolation are different, but they have very consistent symptoms, such as boredom, anxiety, sleep disorder, physical symptoms, loss of time and space, anger and reduced work efficiency. Some people divide the reaction of space into two stages. The first stage is the second to sixth weeks for astronauts to adapt to the new space environment. At this stage, the psychological support group should give priority to helping astronauts reduce the impact of the new environment and help them carry out activities according to the schedule. The second stage is the rest stage of space flight, which is called the "deprivation effect" stage. This stage is caused by isolation, monotony and lack of stimulation (such as lack of social contact and boring work). Some people think that the biggest psychological problem of long-term space flight-"fatigue" appears in this period, and its early symptoms are oversensitive, emotional instability, irritability, fatigue, sleep disorder, loss of appetite and depression. Therefore, the basic purpose of psychological support group is to let astronauts control the monotonous life and possible events through audio-visual communication with family and friends on earth and activities such as gifts and souvenirs brought by visiting astronauts. T- 14 Wasiu Tikin, an astronaut of the Homesick Glass Union, stayed in bed for more than half a month due to anxiety, loss of appetite and poor sleep, but his condition did not improve and he returned to the ground early.

Time perception Time perception is the reflection of the continuity and order of objective phenomena in the human brain. Time exists objectively, but people have individual differences in reflection, judgment and estimation. In space flight, the time information used on the ground will be lost, and it will be affected by various factors in space flight. It is of great practical significance to correctly understand the characteristics of astronauts' time perception, because the success of space flight is related to the operation according to the space timetable and the ability to make quick decisions and deal with emergencies. Some American and Soviet astronauts complained that there was not enough time to complete the activities scheduled in space. This phenomenon that astronauts can't finish their work in the scheduled time is called "time compression". This has happened in the three selection operations of American Sky Lab. For example, in the third Skylab flight, the astronauts' experimental time fell behind the scheduled schedule and began to make mistakes, which also led to disagreement between astronauts and ground controllers; Another example is 1985. It is found that astronauts overestimate the short time in flight, but it has no obvious effect on the long time estimation of 8, 12 and 16 seconds. The same is true of astronaut Titov's experiment of replicating long intervals. The reason of time compression may be related to psychological overload, information overload and cognitive process with insufficient data to make reasoning, judgment and decision.

Extraordinary experiences Some American and Soviet astronauts recorded extraordinary experiences, such as awe and humility for the beauty of the earth and the vastness of the universe. During the flight of Salute 6 from 1977 to 1978, an astronaut was fascinated by the beautiful universe and decided to conduct an unauthorized extravehicular activity to see the external environment around the earth and the space station. He put on his spacesuit. Before leaving the space station, he forgot to fasten his seat belt and found himself floating in space. Fortunately, his companion grabbed his foot when he left the hatch, thus avoiding the tragedy. This fact shows that a well-trained and disciplined astronaut can be fascinated by outer space. He succumbs to his own impulse and ignores all vigilance. Similarly, an astronaut in Sky Lab once left the workbench in order to better observe the earth, which led to the interference of the gyroscope system in Sky Lab. In the project mercury, an astronaut wasted limited fuel to take unauthorized photos of sunset scenery, which restricted the movement and maneuverability of the spacecraft. This low fuel state shocked NASA engineers, because the error of safe return has been reduced to an insufficient level. In addition, for example, Apollo 15 astronauts experienced a change of religious belief, while some astronauts experienced a feeling of emptiness and separation from the earth, similar to the phenomenon that jet pilots reported "breaking off relations" under monotonous high altitude conditions. This extraordinary experience needs further comprehensive research, because it will interfere with and endanger the completion of space missions.

Sleep disorders mainly include sleep difficulties, poor sleep quality, changes in sleep cycle, insomnia and so on. Sleep difficulties can occur at any time, which may be related to physical or physiological stressors, such as cabin noise or circadian rhythm changes, psychological processes of expectation or excitement for the start or end of a flight mission, and other psychological and interpersonal stressors. When the working and rest periods, noise and lighting conditions in the cabin are improved, the sleep in flight can also be improved accordingly. Gemini 7 astronauts recorded 55 hours of EEG during the flight. On the first night of the flight, they didn't sleep well, and they resumed their normal sleep cycle the next night. They all feel very tired, and sleep only 5.3 hours every night on average. In the research of submarine and Antarctic expedition, it was also found that sleep was poor at first, and then gradually returned to normal. Some people observed that the sleep in the third stage decreased and the sleep in the fourth stage disappeared during the Antarctic expedition. People with severe insomnia were once called polar "big eyes".

Psychosomatic symptoms and severe anxiety, depression and psychotic reactions have not been reported in space flight, but they have been described in ground simulation research. For example, the study found that naval personnel in Antarctica (3%) were more prone to mental illness than those in other places (1%). A cruise report of Polaris submarine pointed out that anxiety, depression and psychotic reaction were 5%. A study of wintering personnel at five Antarctic stations in the United States shows that although they are not hospitalized for mental illness, they have obvious behavioral problems. For example, the incidence of anxiety in a research station was 3 times in the first 4 months, increased to 8 times in the middle 4 months, and 19 times in the last 4 months; Suspicion was 0, 7 and 16 times respectively, and non-cooperation was 1 2 and 13 times respectively. The experimental study of nuclear submarine as a space station simulation shows that 1.2% people are unqualified because of the risk of mental illness. As far as the percentage of symptoms is concerned, 50% people have anxiety, 30% people have interpersonal problems, 29% people have depression, and 25% people have sleep disorders. An astronaut of Apollo 1 1 experienced depression and marital problems after returning to Earth, and needed psychological intervention. Apollo astronaut Aldrin was depressed for a long time shortly after returning to the moon, and entered the psychiatric department of the Air Force Hospital two years later. When the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conducted a 36-hour orbital flight simulation experiment, one of the subjects stopped the experiment after 8 hours because of serious anxiety, and another subject suddenly shouted that there was a fire after 22 hours of simulated flight. He believed that he saw flames and smelled smoke, but he couldn't dispel the suspicion that there was no fire in fact, so the flight had to be terminated.

Power problem There have been several cases of power loss in manned flight. The most obvious is the immediate response of Apollo 13 crew after the accident, and the ground personnel and flight crew lost hope of survival several times. If the flight is more complicated, the crew will lose confidence again, and the consequences will be unimaginable. The importance of professional motivation is not only reflected in the aerospace industry, but also in physical and mental health. The Antarctic survey found that naval personnel had more symptoms than civilian scientists during the long-term wintering, such as insomnia increased by 28%, hostility increased by 39% and depression increased by 15% in naval personnel, while insomnia was only 4%, hostility was 2 1% and depression decreased by 2% in civilian scientists. The reason is that the motivation of scientists is related to work. Scientists are busy doing experiments and writing experimental reports, while naval personnel have nothing to do in winter. This situation is similar to aerospace. The career motives of space pilots and load scientists are different. But they must work and interact together under monotonous and routine working conditions. Therefore, it is very important to protect and maintain good motivation.

Compatibility of astronauts

For space activities, it is generally impossible for a person to complete it alone. Even if a person flies in the universe, he must work closely with ground controllers, command managers and supervisors. In addition, most space activities are carried out by two or more crew members. Therefore, the compatibility of astronauts is very important, as an astronaut of Salute -7 said: "The most difficult thing in the flight process is to maintain a good relationship with ground personnel and crew ... Once the relationship breaks down, flying will become more difficult."

Interpersonal tension occurs in manned space flight or ground simulation environment, and many factors, such as the heterogeneity of crew, the number of crew, cultural background, race, country, gender and so on, will affect interpersonal relationship. Gemini -7, Apollo 9, 13, Skylab? Astronauts such as Chang 'e IV and Salute VII all have interpersonal tension problems to varying degrees. For example, the crew of Sky Lab 4 soon became angry after the flight, and gradually became unhappy with each other, and they also had differences with the staff of the ground control center. In the middle of the flight, all the crew members insisted on taking a whole day off and did not work hard to resolve their hostility. This firm claim was later called "rebellion" by senior officials of NASA authorities. Although the Apollo 9 astronauts also showed amazing belligerence, they were able to overcome the conflict between them, so only a nervous consciousness was left at the end of the flight. An astronaut who has experienced interpersonal conflicts once predicted: "The longer the flight time, the more passengers there will be in the future, and the more tension and hostility there will be in interpersonal relationships." Soviet astronauts also had hostile behavior in training. Although there was no fighting, this unhealthy psychological development needs careful handling by psychological support groups. The two astronauts of Salute -7 occasionally experienced interpersonal tension during the flight of 2 1 1 day. They admit that they must "overcome psychological difficulties" and advocate more psychological preparation for long-term flights.

Interpersonal deprivation Interpersonal deprivation is another manifestation of human interaction in space and ground simulation environment, that is, because there are few people, they feel lonely in an isolated narrow space and cannot form specific interpersonal relationships. For example, during the flight of salute and Mir space station, the phenomenon of deprivation of interpersonal relationship was discovered. During the flight of Salute 6, the astronauts who stayed in the space station eagerly looked forward to the arrival of the visiting astronauts. When the visiting astronauts were ordered to return to the ground before boarding the space station because of engine ignition failure, the astronauts who stayed on the space station were depressed. This is a symptom of loneliness or interpersonal deprivation. During the flight of Salute 7, an astronaut also felt sad because he was separated from his family, which was also a manifestation of the deprivation of interpersonal relationship.

Venting in a narrow space environment, the crew often vent their anger on outsiders, because it is safer to lose your temper at people far away from you (such as controllers and commanders on the ground) than at people around you. For example, in June 5438+0983 and June 65438+February, the load experts in the Space Laboratory of the Space Shuttle got angry with the ground controllers, and so did the astronauts in Skylab 4. During the flight of Salute 185 on 1985, the astronauts stopped broadcasting and television communication for two days because they got angry with the ground personnel. Another example is the German astronaut Chretien, who had to carry out a series of physiological function tests during the flight of Mir, during which some instruments needed to be installed. Astronauts complained that the experiment was too complicated. In his flight report, he said it would take 2.5 hours to install these instruments. Complex experiments make people completely like experimental animals. If the windows on Mir were open, he would throw these instruments into space.

Binding language

With the continuous development of space science and technology, the flight time is getting longer and longer, the number of passengers is increasing, the tasks are becoming more and more complicated, and the psychological problems will become more and more prominent. As a new branch of psychology, space psychology will be gradually established, formed and developed. A large number of space psychological problems, such as how to ensure and maintain astronauts' good motivation and adaptability in long-term space flight; The monitoring method of astronauts' long-term flight psychological state, psychological stress relief technology and psychological support guarantee; Methods and standards suitable for the selection and training of long-term flight astronauts; The re-adaptation and psychological rehabilitation of astronauts after returning to the ground, as well as the discussion on the mechanism of psychological phenomena in space environment, need to be deeply studied and solved from theory to practice, with the ultimate goal of ensuring human safety and health, maximizing the development and utilization of space and benefiting mankind.