There is a strange condition which describes many of us during the pandemic. It is called “Antarctic Stare”, “winter-over” syndrome and various other names. It is a mild psychological fugue state first identified in researchers spending the long, dark winter months in Antarctica. These researchers entered a state of psychological hibernation where they felt as if their minds had gone totally blank.

Antarctica is inhospitable. For about 11 weeks a year, the South Pole experiences an astronomical polar light when the sun is below the horizon, so there is 24-hour total darkness aside from the moon’s reflections. The extreme cold (going down to 80 degrees below zero) and the extreme isolation (trips lasting an average of 9 months) are also stressors. It is not a place conductive for health.

This painting by Nicholas Roerich, a Russian artist and explorer who travelled often to the Himalayas, is to me a representation of Antarctic Stare. The frozen landscape and towering cliffs betray a haunting human form with a petrified face trapped in its environment. It is an eerie representation which inspired H.P. Lovecraft, the father of horror fiction, to write The Mountains Of Madness.

Triggers for Antarctic Stare are lack of social variation, monotony of the physical environment, confinement and limited privacy, and emotional and physical deprivations. People suffering from Antarctic stare are vulnerable to mental and somatic health problems such as depressive mood, cognitive impairment, and sleep difficulties.

The pandemic seems to have replicated the triggers from Antarctic Stare. People are sheltered inside their homes, waiting for the menace to disappear. Socializing is strictly curtailed and we are trained to fear people. We cannot travel or vacation easily. There is no longer any separation between work and home life. The result is depressive mood, cognitive impairment and sleep difficulties. We are suffering from Antarctic Stare.

Bodies enter this state of pseudo-hibernation as a defense. Research on Antarctic Stare suggest that the ability to “switch off” mentally is necessary to cope with extreme environments. In the pandemic, people try to avoid the harshness of reality through escapes like video games, for example.

Many people feel guilty for not achieving as much as the pre-COVID-19 days. Even without long commutes, but with the comfort of working at home and sleeping eight-hours we are not as productive. But this may be beyond our control. We are experiencing Antarctic Stare. Mental hibernation is just our body’s way of protecting us.