The crisis unfolding in an Antarctic research station sounds a lot like a Stephen King plot. The drama isn’t over yet for nine isolated scientists at the south pole. They’re stuck with a mentally unstable colleague who assaulted someone. This story appears headed toward a happy ending, thanks to technology which wasn’t available when “The Shining” was written.
Mental health crisis
A serious mental health crisis affecting a male crew member has the rest of the team taking personal safety precautions. Before anyone gets posted to the Sanae IV base in Antarctica they’re put through rigorous psychological testing.
It’s not easy to spend a claustrophobic Antarctic winter snowed in with a small group of people. The good news was that the problem didn’t start after they dug something up out of the ice.
Apparently, the weather and isolation proved too much for one member of this year’s research team. The others don’t have a whole lot of options.
All they could do was “send an email out to the world, pleading for help.” While nobody can rescue them quick, there was a way to ease the crisis considerably.
The email described how a male team member was “becoming violent and mentally unstable.” The isolated crew reached out to a journalist at South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper.
The name of the man in crisis hasn’t been released but the rest of them were pleading for “immediate action to ensure the team’s safety.”
Physical assault
As related by the researcher’s email, the “male team member had physically assaulted a colleague, threatened to kill a different colleague and sexually assaulted another.”
It has since been clarified that there was no “sexual assault” during the worst of the crisis but the reports of physical assault were correct. Apparently, he got upset when his schedule was changed and he had to go out in the cold.
“His behavior has become increasingly egregious, and I am experiencing significant difficulty in feeling secure in his presence,” the researcher wrote.
“It is imperative that immediate action is taken to ensure my safety and the safety of all employees.” It’s not like the authorities could send in a crisis team. They’ll be lucky if they get rescued in two weeks.
There was only one option and everyone was quick to give it a try. The email triggered “a response plan.” The government agency in charge used “trained professionals” to mediate. They set up some telehealth psych appointments on an emergency basis and managed to talk down the disturbed individual.
Thanks to mediators who “continued to engage with the team at the base on an almost daily basis,” the worst of the crisis appears to be over. The aggressor “willingly participated in further psychological evaluation, has shown remorse and is willingly cooperative to follow any interventions that are recommended.“
