CABIN FEVER

Here is a story from my college days I like to tell my friends. I feel it is relevant for a lot of people these days considering quarantine issues and a record amount of people never leaving their homes due to the Coronavirus.

You might have heard the term “cabin fever” and if you have seen the Stanley Kubrick Movie “Shining”, you will know what I mean. Cabin fever is a mental affliction that develops due to long-term isolation. It can first start as irritability and often escalates into various other forms and symptoms. So, let me tell you a summary of my first real encounter with this affliction.

It was our sophomore year of college and we came from Turkey to study in the United States. There were four of us, three (3) in Computer Science, and one (1) in Psychology. The first few weeks we explored the area and familiarized ourselves as best as we could. The classes were different, the culture was hard, and the expectations and stress levels were high.

At the end of our first semester, our friend in Psychology announced he was dropping out because he could not take it anymore. We all understood, from my friend’s looks, I could tell they all considered it. We would regularly keep in touch, but we were not close. Our friend John started showing up less and less to the classes and had no friends to speak of.

We did not suspect anything for weeks, but he became more and more obsessed with something that happened in his past and he started getting paranoid like Jack Nicholson’s character in the film. Eventually, it led him to beg hospitalized after trying to assault another student he thought was conspiring against him, while in truth he was trying to help him. Naturally, he dropped out of the program the following semester.

This article would be exceedingly long if I were to include the details. Therefore, it does not have the emotional impact I would like to convey; but it is more relevant than ever. If you, or someone you know, are in isolation, recognize the symptoms and recommend professional help. It can make a huge difference for you or someone else.

Quite frankly, in most circumstances, all the people starting to get cabin fever need is a friend and human interaction, something they do not even realize they need.