Well a lot of us have been pretty much home bound and not by choice necessarily. It’s certainly possible to get out, but we incur risk to ourselves, our families, and others of contracting or spreading the COVID-19 virus. There is not a complete knowledge of what harm it does, and I have heard statements about possible long-term effects. I’m sure we’ll get into that later.

Today we’re talking about an ancillary effect to the virus, the psychological implications of isolation, also known as Cabin Fever, or being Stir Crazy (stir being slang for jail). A very recent article by a psychiatrist (from June) mentioned this phenomenon as an “overlap of reality with symbolic kinds of conflicts”. If it’s only cabin fever you’re dealing with, that can be handled just by talking about it. At least it seems to reduce the discomfort being being in the house all the time. It can get serious by triggering a kind of PTSD, bringing back thoughts of punishment, like being in jail, or being sent to your room as a child. This could be a sign of feelings of guilt that need to be dealt with.

Cabin fever is sometimes treated as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or mid-winter depression. Having to stay in, particularly when the weather is nice, can be especially difficult.

One suggested treatment for stir-insanity is to get out, especially to interact with nature. Maybe not that difficult. If you have a park nearby, it’s probably safe to go there, and it’s easier to social distance. As I’ve shown on this show, you can even wear your mask and walk a whole five-point-screw-five miles if you want. The guidelines are to wear a mask or keep six feet of distance between yourself and others. It’s more risky than staying at home, sure . . . assuming your home is not a place where people are packed in like sardines. But it’s certainly a relieve from the stress often known as cabin fever, and stress is a killer, as sure, if not as fast, as COVID-19.

Bottom line is you need to keep yourself psychologically fit to weather the COVID-19 storm, so get out in nature if you can, and connect with someone via phone or zoom or otherwise and just talk about how stir-crazy you are. Joke about it, share about it. We can get through this thing together.

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin_fever
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7267471/