Psychiatric problems at sea

Disturbed sleep, night watches, living in close proximity to relative strangers, stressful situations and unwanted side effects from seasickness tablets all contribute to an increased risk of mental illness at sea. There have been plenty of reports of people developing psychosis on long oean trips.

Sometimes sea sickness means that long term mood stabilising medication doesn 't get taken or the the medication just got forgotten in the packing list. We know of instances of delerium tremens being precipitated by acute alchohol withdrawl a few days into a "dry voyage". We, ourselves, have had experience of of a crewman member on one of our cruises whose depression was made worse by some of the above factors and became very poorly indeed.

I wonder if other Ocean Cruising Club members have come across psychiatric problems on their voyages and how these resolved themselves? What made things worse and how did the other crew cope with mental illness in their midst?

Simon

+x

 

Daria Blackwell - 16 Jun 2021

Hi Dick,
It might amuse you to know that I incorporated scopolamine in the plot of my 'nautical murder mystery' novel. 

And the book about Donald Crowhurst is very good as was the movie starring Colin Firth.
https://www.yachtingworld.com/features/donald-crowhurst-fake-world-sailing-story-the-mercy-123426 
Daria

Hi Daria,
Yes, Scope is nothing to fool with as it can strike unpredictably producing striking reactions, so, I suspect, it would make for a good ingredient in a murder plot. For some who have bad seasickness, it works very well and can be used safely (a common recommendation is to use it on shore to see if you have a bad reaction before using it offshore). I am not sure if it continues to be a recommended remedy.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy