Psychiatric Lessons Learned From the Artemis II Mission
Key Takeaways
- Mission support explicitly included psychiatrists, psychologists, and contingency anxiolytics, reinforcing mental health care as a standard, non-stigmatizing component of high-stakes performance operations.
- A “village” model—crew plus extensive ground and historical teams—maps onto psychiatry’s professional ecosystem, with in-person meetings and online access sustaining collective learning and resilience.
Artemis astronauts spotlight psychiatric medication, mental health support, and trust—revealing why psychiatry’s village mindset strengthens care, leadership, and ethics.
PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS
I thought I was done for now after 4 recent columns on the Artemis II mission and its astronauts. But then came their 1st news conference yesterday, a week after landing, and I was struck by several connections to psychiatry.
Psychiatry Is Important
We know that,1 but the astronauts made that clear when answering a question about their mental health treatment during the mission. There was medication for anxiety on board, but apparently not needed. Victor Glover also emphasized that they had a team of psychiatrists and psychologists supporting them. Of course they did, I thought. Nothing abnormal or stigmatizing about that, is there?
The “Wisdom of the Village”
They all emphasized the importance of their team of 4 on board, but also to all connected to the fight, present and past. As Hillary Clinton wrote, It Takes a Village to Raise a Child,2 it also takes a village and more to explore the moon.
Our living village in psychiatry is most clearly present in the upcoming American Psychiatric Association (APA) Annual Meeting and other conferences. Attending live is best, but there is also online connectivity to watch.
Learning From the Past
There were questions and points of what was retained and used from the past. One was the same capsule from the last unmanned mission carrying them, but with an improved shield. Another was the diverse representation of the human race, as exemplified by the diverse mix of astronauts, which came from a policy developed by NASA decades ago.
Similarly, in psychiatry we are always using, adjusting, and personalizing our treatments from the past, both medications and psychotherapies. The advances in our own diversity can be seen right in our top APA leadership, with a Black woman CEO and an incoming Black male psychiatrist.3
Friendships
Commander Reid Wiseman emphasized that they started the mission as friends but came back as best friends. They enjoyed and trusted each other in those physically close quarters.
Similarly, our colleagues, whether friends or not, are important to our functioning, especially on teams. They are one of our secondary ethical priorities, right after the primary needs of patients. They are especially important now in our varying political opinions about conflicts in the world. Respect and curiosity toward each other are ethically and morally crucial.4
Concluding Thoughts
It should be no surprise that similar matters are present in humans exploring outer space as in the inner space explored by psychiatrists. After all, our human nature is the same. I bet we could find some of the same if we investigated other workplaces, like factory work.
What adds to the importance of our work is the subject matter, that we have the great honor and really, the unique privilege, to try to address what makes us human, individually and collectively, for better or worse.
Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specializes in the social, cultural, ethical, spiritual, and religious aspects of psychiatry, and since 2012 is in retirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekdays column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He has been an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physical burnout, and xenophobia, among other social justice causes, serving on many related local and national community and professional Boards. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.
References
1. Lieberman JA. Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry. Little, Brown Sparks; 2016.
2. Clinton HR. It Takes a Village. Simon & Shuster; 2006.
3. Spurlock J. Black Psychiatrists and American Psychiatry. American Psychiatric Publishing; 1999.
4. American Psychiatric Association. The Principles of Medical Ethics, with Annotations Especially Applicable to Psychiatry. American Psychiatric Publishing; 2013.
