Introduction: The French Strategic Submarine with Ballistic Nuclear missiles (SSBN) is a peculiar professional environment exposing its staff to an isolated and confined technological surrounding during patrols (i.e., longer than two months). This environment is well-known for inducing deterioration of submariners’ mood and cognition. The fine-tuned interplay between the brain and the body underlies adaptive ability to respond appropriately in the changing environment. Mindfulness disposition (MD) has been associated with an efficient emotional functioning because of a better ability to feel engaged by information from the body and to notice subtle changes. This interoceptive ability is considered to shape the ability to respond to external stimuli, especially olfaction. However, few studies have evaluated the relationships between interoception and exteroception according to MD for coping with the environmental challenges.
Method: This empirical exploratory study of a followed-up cohort included 24 submariner volunteers. The mindfulness disposition was assessed with the Fribourg mindfulness Inventory (FMI) to classify the submariners into two groups (mindful and non-mindful) in order to compare the evolution of their emotional states, interoception, exteroception and health behaviors during the patrol.
Results: The psychological health overall deteriorates during the patrol. The mindful submariners maintain a better psychological adaptation compared to the non-mindful submariners, including beneficial interoceptive and exteroceptive abilities. This is associated with better subjective health behaviors (sleeping and eating behaviors).
Conclusion: During a long-term professional containment, as implied by a long-term submarine patrol, mindful disposition appears as a protective functioning to efficiently manage with the constraints due to the confinement. Our results are one of the first to highlight how mindfulness may help to deal with stress for individuals confronted with realistic confinement. Developing mindfulness might be of outstanding importance for health care in confined period such as the actual quarantine due to a major infectious disease outbreak.