What Happens to Your Body When You Spend So Much Time Inside?
It’s possible to have too much of a good thing—even spending time in your own home. For many, the first few weeks of staying at home, lockdown, and social distancing were ideal. You had an excuse to cancel all your plans, wear sweatpants all day, and finally binge-watch the best shows on Netflix. But as weeks turned into months, for many of us, hanging out at home has lost its luster. Now you feel irritable, restless, and in a bad mood. Chances are, you’re not the only one who is feeling a little bummed out.
Cabin fever isn’t an urban legend; it exists and can definitely rear its ugly head when you spend too much time indoors.
“It’s not a mental illness or disorder, but more of a psychological condition that arises from the feelings of being alone and stuck in a confined space,” says Dr. P. Priyanka, MD, medical director for Community Psychiatry. “Once we start to feel stuck, our mind extrapolates it into several other negative emotions to make us feel that there is no way out of this and that things will only get worse.”
So, what’s the deal? What does cabin fever actually mean? How can we manage these feelings once and for all? Read on for everything you need to know about cabin fever.