The plot of the film “The Shining” almost became reality at a research station in Antarctica

Unfortunately, this is far from the first such case — even the most balanced people at polar stations often go mad. Track the trend yourself:

• 1984 — the chief physician of the Argentine station burned the research complex to the ground after management ordered him to stay for a second winter. The staff miraculously survived and were evacuated by lifeboats.
• 1996 — an employee of the American station beat the head chef with a hammer after a kitchen argument. The victim’s head was split, but he survived.
• 2000 — an Australian astrophysicist suddenly fell ill and died in agony. His body could be repatriated only after six months. An autopsy showed that the scientist had been poisoned with methanol: one of the staff deliberately mixed poison into his food or drink. The murderer was never identified.
• 2018 — a Russian engineer stabbed a colleague in the chest with a knife after a kitchen argument. A possible motive was that the victim had spoiled the ending of a book for the attacker.

It turns out that under the conditions of prolonged isolation and the extreme Antarctic climate, polar researchers develop the so‑called “winter‑over syndrome”.  It is characterized by irritability, depression, difficulty concentrating,
memory loss, insomnia, emotional flattening and even mild trances known as the “Antarctic stare”. The causes of these mental changes include monotony, lack of new impressions, constant presence with the same group of people, as well as physiological changes, for example thyroid dysfunction caused by the cold.