(BP) Long winter days can quickly bring on feelings of cabin fever. Although cabin fever is not a recognized medical condition, it can compromise well-being, and can strike even the most optimistic people.
Cabin fever normally affects people during the winter months, when shortened days, longer periods of darkness and cold temperatures often force people to remain inside. These factors can lead to depression, boredom, anxiety, and an inability to concentrate. Alleviating symptoms of cabin fever requires making a few changes, including getting outdoors whenever possible.
1. Head outside. It may be cold and dreary, but getting outside can be healthy. Take advantage of daylight hours whenever possible. Plan a walk around the neighborhood before you go to work. Otherwise, spend your lunch hour outdoors soaking up the sun’s rays. The sun is an instant mood-booster.
2. Brighten up the indoors. Choose energizing colors like yellow, orange and red to decorate the interior of your home. Invest in lights that offer a greater amount of wattage and brightness. Light-therapy lamps produce bright light that simulates the sun and provide broad-spectrum rays. Sitting in front of one of these lights can alleviate feelings of seasonal affective disorder, or SAD.
3. Grow more indoor plants. Plants can help filter out stale, stagnant air in the house and add moisture to the environment. Breathing fresh oxygen from these plants can provide you with energy and help you to feel revitalized.
4. Increase your exercise routine. Now could be the time to join the gym or become part of a walking group. According to The Mayo Clinic, exercise can boost mood, reducing immune system chemicals that can worsen symptoms of depression. In addition, exercise increases body temperature, which may have calming effects, and releases feel-good brain chemicals that may ease depression.
5. Throw a party. The old saying is “misery loves company,” so why not invite friends over and banish cabin fever together? Winter tends to be alienating, as people are more inclined to bundle up and stay indoors. Forcing socialization can brighten not only your own mood but that of others as well.
6. Get out of town. Cabin fever can be temporarily abated by a mini vacation. Head somewhere that is warm and sunny. If you cannot afford a trip to the tropics, a brief jaunt to a spa or relative’s house may banish boredom and get you out of the house.
7. Try a new hobby. Attempt an activity that marries winter with getting active. Ideal activities include cross-country skiing, ice hockey, skating, or snowshoeing. TF13C786
