Cabin fever: How forced loneliness makes us unhappy
This is a familiar feeling: after a week spent at home alone due to illness, even the favorite cup in the kitchen becomes annoying. This phenomenon has a specific name, which, unfortunately, does not have a capacious analogue in Russian - cabin fever, that is, irritation and anxiety, arising from the fact that a person has been in the same room for too long. The official diagnosis of the cabin fever does not exist, but experts believe that this is a very real phenomenon. “By and large, your mind tells you that the environment you are in is not entirely conducive to the functioning of the body,” said Josh Klapow, a clinical psychologist and doctoral student at the School of Public Health of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. your freedom of movement is limited for some time and you can no longer bear it. "
Determining that this is a cabin fever, and not just fatigue, can be done on several grounds that experts pay attention to: for example, if you feel locked up in a room, you find it difficult to concentrate on one task, you have lethargy or apathy, you don’t I want to do anything, you get annoyed for no particular reason. At the same time, self-diagnostics should be more careful: depression and irritability can be hidden behind fatigue and irritability with the help of specialists - a psychotherapist, as well as a neurologist and an endocrinologist. You should think about depression if you are not only constantly irritated, but also have lost interest in life, cry more often, you have increased or, on the contrary, your appetite has fallen, you have begun to sleep more or, on the contrary, have experienced insomnia.
Cabin fever is a practically unexplored phenomenon: the only scientific study devoted directly to it was conducted in the mid-eighties - thirty-five people from Minnesota, aged between seventeen and eighty-four, took part in it. Participants were asked how they understand the phenomenon - most often they called as its signs dissatisfaction with the way things are at home, anxiety, boredom, irritability and a desire to break free from the usual situation. Many tried to deal with the problem on their own (for example, they tried to change the situation) or with the help of friends and relatives - and only a few turned to specialists for help. The authors of the study come to the conclusion that the cabin fever is an important concept, which should help in studying the problem and finding ways to solve it.
From 40 to 60% of participants in polar expeditions may experience depression, sleep disturbances, anger, irritability, conflict with colleagues.
Making far-reaching conclusions on a single study with so many participants is, of course, difficult - but this does not mean that the phenomenon does not exist in principle. There is no need to go far for examples: cases when a person isolated from others feels uncomfortable, they are found in extreme conditions, and very close to us.
One of the most vivid examples of what we could relate to the cabin fever is the state in which people end up working for a long time at the North Pole. It is called "polar madness": harsh conditions and isolation affect the psychological state of a person. Researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of British Columbia concluded that 40 to 60% of participants in polar expeditions may have negative mental health consequences: depression, sleep disorders, anger, irritability, and conflict with colleagues. About 5% of them need psychotherapy or medication. Of course, not only isolation plays a role here, but other factors as well: “Some people find it difficult to adapt to day and night cycles, because of which they cannot sleep well and are confronted with sleep disorders,” said one of the authors of the study. others develop clinical depression. Others do not withstand "imprisonment" and the fact that they need to see the same people day after day. "
Similar effects are observed in people and in other extreme situations - for example, in thirty-three Chilean miners who in 2010 spent more than two months underground because of an accident at the mine: they were angry when the people responsible for their rescue refused to fulfill their conditions, put themselves at risk in the mine and quarreled with each other. "The feeling of falling into a hopeless situation can cause or heighten anxiety even among miners who are used to a closed space," said Ken Robbins, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison. "That they [rumored] move dangerously around the mine and quarrel with those who are trying to help them, suggests that they have difficulties in the field of mental health. "
In a situation of isolation, however, it turns out that not only miners and members of expeditions: the closed space and lack of communication affects those who live a normal life. For example, according to a survey conducted last year by a charity organization Action for Children, 52% of two thousand young parents surveyed said that they suffer from loneliness: many feel isolated from others because of the difficult financial situation and the inability to leave home as often like before the birth of a child. Another example is single elderly people. Research shows that loneliness is a source of health problems in older people, which can seriously affect the quality of life and its duration.
Scientists note that there is a connection between loneliness and depression. For example, according to a study conducted among nearly three hundred British children, those who felt lonely in childhood (from five to nine years old) were more prone to depression later in life. The feeling of being alone is also associated with suicidal tendencies: among those who feel that way, the risk that they will have thoughts of suicide is 21% higher.
Studies show that feeling lonely is a source of health problems in older people, which can seriously affect the quality of life and its duration.
At the same time, loneliness is also a subjective feeling: the fact that a person is actually alone now does not mean that he is uncomfortable. “Social isolation means that a person has few social connections and rarely interacts with people, whereas loneliness is a subjective perception of isolation: the discrepancy between the desired number of social connections and reality,” psychologists Julianne Holt-Lanstad and Timothy Smith note. In addition to the number of people in a person’s life, the quality of this relationship is important - for example, according to the same study on the effect of loneliness on older people, a significant proportion of those who feel lonely, married or not alone live.
In this, perhaps, lies the main way to deal with cabin fever and a sense of isolation. You can try to cope with the problem, changing the situation or type of activity: walk more, start a new project or start a rearrangement - everything that will help you to feel more active. Experts also advise to follow the diet: "Many have a habit of leaning on fatty foods and foods with a lot of carbohydrates, when there is nothing else to do. This is not very good, because it makes us sluggish," Josh Clapo notes. "Another habit is to drink lots of coffee that feeds the alarm. "
Finally, it is worth being more attentive to others: since the feeling of loneliness and isolation is subjective, one can not notice that the person next to him feels somehow "not so", and the meetings and communication that already exist in his life are not enough for him. The good news is that the cabin fever can be defeated - the main thing is to notice its signs.
Photo: Tierney - stock.adobe.co (1, 2)
