THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF ARCTIC AND 



SUB-ARCTIC LIVING 



Ernest L. McCollum, Captain, USAF 



Arctic Aeromedical Laboratory 



The purpose of this paper is to present a brief appraisal of 

 some of the psychological factors which tend to assume a pre- 

 dominant role in the dynamics of Arctic and sub-Arctic exist- 

 ence. Obviously, this is not an attempt to enumerate all of the 

 minute aspects of behavioral phenomena peculiar to the Arctic 

 peoples, nor is it an effort to evaluate the relative magnitude 

 of these factors as they relate to individual communities or 

 groups. 



The primary source for this concise overview rests in the 

 research program of the Arctic Aeromedical Laboratory at 

 Ladd Air Force Base, Fairbanks, Alaska. While the mission 

 of this organization is military in nature, the implications of 

 the work being conducted there have general application and 

 are meaningful to the civilian community as well. Basically, 

 there is little difference between the drives, the needs, and the 

 wants of the service man and his family in Alaska and those of 

 the resident civilian, the itinerant summer laborer, or the 

 sourdough. 



The stresses of the Alaskan environment are, for the most 

 part, vastly exaggerated. There is little objective evidence to 

 support the position that is commonly gleaned from stateside 

 accounts of the hazards of life in the northern latitudes. The 

 first task of basic orientation for the newcomer to Alaska is the 

 dispelling of the many fantastic notions he may have concern- 

 ing the Far North. In place of these, he must be supplied with 

 a factual knowledge of the people, the climate, the terrain, etc. 

 Once these preconceived errors are eliminated, a great step has 

 been taken in the direction of good adjustment. 



For the past eighteen months seventy-three airmen, all in 



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