Is Cabin Fever Real? Share Your Story

Here it comes again. A nasty weather front is expected to dump snow from Chicago to Boston, and the accompanying cold air is sending the mercury down to the negative double digits as far south as Memphis, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky. The National Weather Service says half of the U.S. will be experiencing temps of at least 10 below. The federal government has given up and closed its Washington, D.C., offices. As of dawn on the day I’m writing this, nearly 2,000 flights have been cancelled.

That means many of you will be stuck inside. With the weather we have been having, at what point does home sweet home become unbearable?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines cabin fever as: “Extreme irritability and restlessness from living in isolation or a confined indoor area for a prolonged period of time.” It says the first use of the word appeared in 1918.




Horror flicks like The Shining portray the darker, much more sinister side of the syndrome. But being snowed in rarely ends in murder — as far as we know.


In fact, plug the term into an Internet search box, and you’ll find more hits for mountain-themed gift shops and sporting goods stores named Cabin Fever than actual medical references.


But many say the term is far from lighthearted. Beyond irritability, people with cabin fever may tend to sleep more or have the irresistible urge to go outside — snow, ice or cold notwithstanding.


A recent episode of MythBusters concluded that cabin fever is real. But sadly, many of you have been cooped up since the holidays, putting it to a real-life test. We ask you: Is cabin fever real, and how are you coping?

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