Psychiatric illness and suicide in the heroic age of Antarctic exploration

During the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, a number of the early explorers developed psychiatric illness either in the Antarctic or shortly after leaving it. Most of these were psychotic illnesses and stress reactions. At least six explorers committed suicide either in the Antarctic or after th...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:History of Psychiatry
Main Author: Guly, HR
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publications 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0957154x11399209
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0957154X11399209
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/0957154X11399209
Description
Summary:During the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, a number of the early explorers developed psychiatric illness either in the Antarctic or shortly after leaving it. Most of these were psychotic illnesses and stress reactions. At least six explorers committed suicide either in the Antarctic or after their return. These cases are described, and possible reasons for the apparent high incidence of psychiatric disease and suicide are discussed. There are also examples of the possible misuse of psychiatric labels.