Cabin fever is an old phrase for people who would be trapped in their cabins during the winter months. Have you ever noticed a mystery door on the second level of an old house and wondered what a door was doing up there with no stairs or any other way to exit from the door to the ground outside? Then you've seen the winter escape door which was built into older homes when winters were harsh, far more than they are now. Snow would build up with snowfall and blowing drifts until people couldn't get out of their homes from the regular ground floor door. They could use that second floor door then. Step out with their snowshoes and avoid being trapped inside their own home.

It was when they couldn't get out, when they had nothing to do but wait for winter to thaw, that cabin fever came along. The night came early and the day started late. That gave them a lot of hours of darkness. Light was expensive. Cabins didn't have a lot of windows in the days of early settlers. If they have fuel for lamps or candles they had to be conserved to last all winter. It was also frigidly cold so everyone kept close together to share heat, days and nights too. That meant close, cramped quarters and a lot of time on their hands.

Can you imagine living like that? How restless you would become? How depressed over the length of winter and the hours of darkness? If it weren't so cold you could go off by yourself but everyone would be huddled around the source of heat. Sometimes they would have all the farm animals in the cabin with them in order to keep them through the winter. No wonder they would feel desperate to escape. My Grandparents told me some people did go crazy. Some of them needed to be outside so badly they died from exposure to the elements.

Modern Cabin Fever

Cabin fever didn't end with the early settlers. People can get the feeling of cabin fever in the summer when they stay indoors with the air conditioning on. People can be camping and living in a small tent during a few days of rain and have cabin fever. People who become afraid to leave their home for all kinds of reasons can be house bound and have cabin fever at the same time.

What do to About Cabin Fever

If you can get out at all, do it! Even if it means sweltering in the heat, getting soaked in the rain, freezing in the snow or having to talk to your neighbour - get outdoors for at least a few minutes. It will make a difference. Look around while you are out there. Kick some snow, pick a couple of flowers, splash the rain and rescue a worm from the sidewalk. Do something with your moments of freedom so you can go back to indoors feeling you took some kind of action.

If you have fellow cabin fever sufferers don't all commiserate, play a game. Drag out the board games no one has looked at in awhile. If you have limited supplies use pen and paper to play hangman. Start a jigsaw puzzle. Get out a deck of cards. Play I Spy even, you don't need anything extra for that.

Create your own TV show. Even if you are alone you can interview the four walls and everything in between. Talking to yourself is better than listening to the silence and feeling trapped inside of it. Break the silence - at least you know you have a captive audience who can really appreciate your sense of humour.

Relax. Get into a good book. Try yoga or something else you like to do to unwind. Spend the time pampering yourself with a hot bath, bring a book and spend as long as you want in there. If it's hot, bring a fan to sit on the floor and blow the air around from the doorway. The radio can sit on the counter. Just keep electrical things safely away from the water.

Exercise. Jumping jacks, twiddling your fingers and toes, whatever sort of exercise you can enjoy inside the house will work.

Go through cookbooks and find a great dinner to make with whatever you have available. Or, go out and grab what you need. This isn't a great time to over eat unless you are able to be active inside the house.

Start a new hobby or take up one you used to enjoy. Teach yourself to crochet or knit for example.Finally read the instruction book that came along with that new camera. Repair things you haven't had time to get around to doing in the house.

Sleep. It's free and pretty easy to do when you just sit there awhile.

Don't isolate yourself. Pick up the phone and find someone else home and fighting cabin fever. Send out a few emails, check Facebook and Twitter and see who you can find. Invite friends over.

If you are stuck indoors with people and you need to get out from under everyone bury your nose in a book, write in a journal or listen to movies or music which everyone can enjoy without having to talk to each other.

If you have the winter blahs, SAD (seasonal affective disorder), turn on some extra lights. The extra hours of darkness in winter can make you feel like you're living in a cave. So brighten things up. Even open up a couple of windows to let in some fresh air for a few minutes.

Don't overdose on the news. You can be sure they will be talking about how bad the weather is, you really don't need to hear more of that from someone else.

I'm the quiet one in a family of people who love to talk. Because of this, I LOVE living alone. I love being alone. When I have the house to myself it's like I bathe in the silence the way some people like to bake themselves in the sun. The world is much lovelier in silence.

I know not everyone likes being or living alone. Of course, the people who talk a lot must find it hard to not have someone to share everything with. But, that's not me.

Sure I talk to myself a bit. It's so seldom I get to speak without being interrupted. I like hearing myself complete a sentence, even a whole thought.

How to be Alone and Like It

Of course, this won't work for everyone. Some people are just social animals, true extroverts who need to have other people around in order for themselves to shine. I don't really and truly understand that but I try to.

• Keep making plans. Have new things to do. Don't put yourself on the shelf just because you don't have someone else around each day.
• Don't slack off. Take up exercising. It's a good way to spend time with a group of people plus it keeps you active.
• Know you are good enough by yourself. You don't need approval or feedback from others to be a complete person - you are a complete person just as you are.
• Put yourself, your opinions, your ideas and your values first. You don't have to ignore all that free advice, but consider your own judgements first, give yourself top priority.
• Become an observer. You don't have to comment on everything, you don't have to participate in everything but you should take an interest to at least learn a bit about everything. Participate in your own life rather than taking a back seat.
• Appreciate the silence. Soak in the delicious soothing calm of life without extra sound bouncing around from wall to wall inside your head and out.
• Enjoy a conversation with just yourself. Don't feel you have to obey some rule about what's normal. It doesn't hurt anyone for you to talk to yourself.
• Be grateful for what you have. Don't fall into becoming a pessimist. See what you have, right in front of you. Look for the good things and that's what you will find/ see.
• Value the people you have in your life and the people you meet just once. Don't be stingy with smiles, waves and hellos.
• Treat yourself. Cook yourself a great dinner at home. Go to bed early or sleep in - just because you can (and you have the whole bed to yourself). Give yourself a spa weekend, in your own place. Do things to please yourself, honour yourself.
• Create your living space to your own taste and style. Give yourself the best reading nook ever, the most luxurious bathroom or well stocked kitchen - make your home suit your personal interests and the person you are.
• Avoid bad habits like smoking, too much drinking, etc. You won't have anyone to notice you're smoking or drinking too much and we tend to make excuses or ignore something like that ourselves.
• Don't stagnate. Rearrange, redecorate and switch things around. It's nice to have something new in your day to day life.
• Don't buy endless stuff. Think about what you really need and want - avoid clutter which could too easily lead to hoarding and having more stuff than you can use or even managed to deal with.
• Be creative. Bring new things into your life, take on fresh projects, learn new crafts and ideas. The nice thing about being creative and alone is doing it all to please yourself, do it all your way.
• Don't become a TV couch potato or someone who only interacts with other people through the Internet. If you keep yourself shut away you could end up being a shut in, someone uncomfortable with being out in the world, meeting new people. Don't let yourself become afraid of life and people outside the safety of your front door.
• Keep track of your own achievements. When you don't have people to give you congratulations or feedback you need to know yourself and feel good about what you have done and done well.
• When you have a plan for the day or the future you can begin right away. Don't delay. You don't need to get the ok from someone else, you don't have to change your plans to suit someone else, so start making them.
• Go out for coffee, go out for a movie and go out for dinner, alone. I like to bring a book and people watch too, especially if I get a seat with a view outside.
• If you don't want to be alone, you don't have to. Volunteer, get together with family and friends. There are always people who will be happy to find a use for any time you can give them.

Book lovers never go to bed alone.