Cabin fever

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This article is about the psychological condition. For other uses, see Cabin fever (disambiguation).

Cabin fever is a condition that produces restlessness and irritability caused from being in a confined space.

The term possibly originated in the United States at the time when settlers would be snowed in to their log cabins and had to wait for the spring thaw in order to travel to town. Another possible source for this phrase could be that during an outbreak of some disease, people who had a fever were confined to a cabin as a quarantine. Most likely, the phrase may be associated with ocean-crossing sailing ships in which passengers had to endure weeks and months of slow travel while living in cramped cabins below deck.

The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms dates this phrase as late 1800s, and the Online Etymology Dictionary says it was first recorded in 1918.

Some fictional stories are based around this idea of a small group of people getting restless and irritable from being in a confined space, for example extended space missions (see Generation ships or the Dark Star film). One of the best-known stories about cabin fever is Stephen King's The Shining which involves a family of three trapped in an isolated resort in the dead of winter.

Homer Simpson and Mr. Burns also faced this problem while locked in a cabin on an episode of The Simpsons, entitled Mountain of Madness.

Psychologists claim that the principles which apply to cabin fever also apply to workplace bullying. The causes and settings are similar: a group of people forced together by circumstances for long periods of time.

Some people say that the British Admiral Lord Nelson suffered from Cabin Fever and thus on the ship HMS Victory, he had an enormous cabin built to settle this confined disorder.