Take two minutes and use your senses to take in your environment and listen to the noises around you.If you do leave the house, you can relieve some stress with this wellness exercise:.Enjoy online museum tours or watch online musicals and performances.Learn something new via online videos (e.g.Have a special take-out meal once or twice a week so you have something to look forward to.Set aside time to connect with extended family and friends over video/phone calls.Engage with family members in your household like eating together, playing games, having conversations, doing projects.Keep a visual calendar in sight so you know the actual day and date.Take a two-minute break every day to clear your mind.Name something that you are thankful for at the start of the day.Keep a log of activities or tasks to be accomplished for the day – like a checklist you have at work – and check the tasks off when you’re done.When taking breaks, avoid screens like watching TV or playing online games instead, look out of the window to enjoy nature - the sight of greenery or blue skies helps rest your eyes.Set clear time for work and coffee breaks.Set weekly work tasks and review them at the end of the week.Shower and change out of your sleepwear.Eat and sleep at your normal times, as if you were still going to your workplace.We can accept that the circuit breaker is a transient phase, and this too shall pass.” Reframing of the situation is highly encouraged – instead of seeing oneself as ‘being stuck’, perhaps we could adopt the mindset of ‘let’s not waste this circuit breaker season’ and use it to recharge, reset and even re-invent ourselves. “Practising gratitude daily has been found to be effective in building coping skills and strengthening mental resources. Ms Sng suggests that shifting our mindset to focus on positive thoughts also helps. To manage cabin fever, it is important to stick to our usual work, sleep and meal times, and talk to friends or family if you feel distressed. “But if you find yourself being worried to a point where it impedes your daily functioning, like poorer appetite, poor sleep patterns, or if you are unable to concentrate or complete your work tasks, it would be advisable to seek help from a mental health practitioner,” said Ms Sng. While most of us will not develop mental health disorders from cabin fever, it may cause us to feel more anxious, irritable and sad. “The increased distress experienced may trigger other mental health disorders like generalised anxiety, paranoia, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression and some may entertain suicidal thoughts,” said Ms Sng. These people should seek the help they need if they feel their moods deteriorating. Of greater concern are those who already have mental health issues. While extroverts can adapt to being alone with time, Ms Sng added, “As isolation prolongs, both extroverts and introverts may similarly find themselves feeling distressed at the situation.” This depends on their personality, temperament and current coping abilities,” said Ms Sng.įor instance, extroverts may feel worse at first because they enjoy being with other people. “Different people may experience a combination of symptoms, and to a varying extent. Some of the symptoms of cabin fever include stress, restlessness, impatience, being easily agitated or highly irritable, lethargy, decreased motivation, persistent sadness, low moods, having a sense of hopelessness, mistrust of people, poor concentration, poor sleep hygiene, food cravings and even weight changes. However, people all over the world – including in sunny Singapore – may now be experiencing the phenomenon as they stay at home for long periods of time during COVID-19. The term cabin fever is often used in countries to describe the feelings experienced by those trapped at home because of extreme weather. While we are not astronauts, who are by nature highly resilient and undergo rigorous isolation training to cope with the conditions in space, many of us are starting to feel the effects of being confined to our homes, without much human interaction, during this circuit breaker.įeeling alone and sad, and not being able to cope with these feelings can lead to “cabin fever”.Īdrienne Sng, a National CARE Hotline volunteer who is the Director of Clinical Services at Boys’ Town, explains, “Cabin fever refers to the cycle of negative and distressing emotions experienced by individuals as a result of being isolated or feeling ‘cut off’ from society at large.” Astronauts have been known to spend up to a year, mostly alone in confined quarters, floating above the Earth.
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