Antarctic study: Prolonged isolation fosters mistrust and paranoia

GENEVA - When a small group of people are isolated together for weeks, the circumstances do little to strengthen their bonds, according to new research that highlights the risks to teams working together on oil rigs, space missions and in other isolated settings.

Instead, the isolation fuels paranoia, mistrust and conflict, while inhibiting performance of duties, according to a new study conducted at a remote Antarctic research station.

"In small teams under extreme conditions, more contact doesn't automatically equate to social support, but can actually increase tensions," said co-author Jan Schmutz.

The findings should be taken as a warning to any teams who need to work in close conditions over weeks, notably for future space missions, say the researchers from several universities, including Zurich and Bern in Switzerland and Würzburg in Germany.

The team of authors studied the 12-member crew of the French-Italian Antarctic station Concordia over a period of ten months. The station is located at one of the most remote places on Earth, at an altitude of around 3,200 metres.

The study, published in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) in May, examines team dynamics, social interaction, mistrust and loneliness.

Its conclusion is that loneliness, mistrust and conflict increase under extreme conditions, while cohesion and performance decline, said the University of Bern, which played a leading role in the research.

Because access during the Antarctic winter - from mid-February to mid-November - is impossible, the crew lived and worked in complete isolation.

The 12 researchers wore sensors that recorded when they met, with whom and for how long, and they completed questionnaires on multiple occasions.

After a few months, some team members said they believed that others were talking about them or watching them, said Würzburg psychiatrist Sebastian Walther. Those individuals also assumed that the others wished to harm them, Walther told dpa.

By standard criteria, he said, this constitutes paranoia, which can also occur in a mild form. "We measured clear paranoia within the expedition group. But that is of course far removed from a paranoid persecution complex as seen in severe mental illness," he cautioned.

Physical proximity also did not automatically have a positive effect on the Antarctic crew. "People who had more frequent contact with other team members were more likely to report conflict, growing mistrust and reduced performance," the University of Zurich (UZH), which led the study, said, summarizing one of the findings.

It was conceivable, the researchers said, that isolated individuals sought more contact but that this contact did not provide them with sufficient support.

The team said the results offered important insights for planned long-duration space missions - to the Moon and Mars - as well as for other extreme working environments such as submarines and offshore platforms.

"The results show how important it is to identify social dynamics early on and provide teams with targeted support," said Schmutz.

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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 1:18 AM.