Star crazy: Plans deal with breakdowns in space

The checklist says say astronauts who crack up can be restrained and then offered oral Haldol, an anti-psychotic drug used to treat agitation and mania, and Valium. If the astronaut won’t cooperate, the drugs can be forcibly given with a shot to the arm. Crew members are instructed to stay with the tied-up astronaut to monitor vital signs.

Space station astronauts talk weekly via long-distance hookup to a flight surgeon and every two weeks to a psychologist, so any psychiatric disorder would probably be detected before it became so serious that the astronaut had to be brought home, Hartsfield said.

No NASA astronaut at the space station has been treated in orbit with anti-psychotic or antidepressant medications, and no NASA shuttle crew member has required anti-psychotic medications, Hartsfield said.

‘You sort of shift yourself mentally’
Depression, feelings of isolation and stress are not unheard of during long stays in space in tight quarters.

A couple of Soviet crews in past decades are believed to have experienced psychological problems, and U.S. astronaut John Blaha admitted feeling depressed at the start of a four-month stay at the Soviets’ Mir space station more than a decade ago. Antidepressants were not available.

“I think you have to battle yourself and tell yourself, ‘Look, this is your new planet ... and you need to enjoy this environment,’ ” Blaha told the AP last week. “You sort of shift yourself mentally.”

During missions in 1985 and 1995, shuttle commanders put padlocks on the spaceships’ hatches as a precaution since they didn’t know the scientists aboard very well. Some crew members, called payload specialists, are picked to fly for specific scientific or commercial tasks and do not train as extensively with the other astronauts.

Would-be astronauts are carefully tested and screened to eliminate those who are unstable. But unless they are bound for the space station for a months-long stay in orbit, they are not put through any regular psychological tests after that.

Astronauts selected for the space station get a psychiatric assessment six months and a month before launch.

No good studies of stress levels
Dr. Patricia Santy, a former NASA psychiatrist and author of the book “Choosing the Right Stuff,” said there are no good studies of astronauts’ stress levels or how they adapt psychologically to space.

9-1-1 IN SPACE Click here to visit the Space Station User's Guide at SpaceRef, which provides NASA documents on medical procedures — including how to handle a psychotic astronaut.

U.S. astronauts at the space station keep a journal for a study by a Santa Barbara, Calif., researcher. But Santy said the diaries won’t help detect mental illness.

“What astronaut is going to tell you they’re feeling homicidal?” she asked. “They’re very conscious that if they say the wrong thing they could get grounded.”

Astronaut James Reilly, who is flying on space shuttle Atlantis in March, said it is unlikely a U.S. astronaut would lose it in space. Space tourists who pay the Russians $20 million to go to the space station are another matter, he said.

“I think we stand a greater chance of someone getting a little nuts with the space tourists that fly occasionally, because it’s less rigorous,” Reilly said.

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