Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Avoiding Cabin Fever

If you find yourself in a situation where you have to hunker down inside your home for an extended period of time due to a disaster, cabin fever can quickly arrive to make your life even more miserable. You will need some type of activity to keep your mind in proper working condition. The mind is a vital part of your body and needs “exercise” to keep it working properly.

Boredom and loneliness will quickly reach out and grab a hold of you if you aren’t prepared. Peace and quiet are good things, but the gregarious nature of man does not tolerate long periods of it very well. You will need to plan ahead for this contingency to avoid it.

There are several simple ways to do this.

1.) Keep a good deck of cards handy. Playing a game of solitaire will keep your mind occupied for a long time. Cards are inexpensive and don’t require a lot of storage space.

2.) Keep a good paperback or book handy to read. Reading is a very relaxing activity and will keep your mind occupied. Select your reading material so that it is a subject of interest that you will enjoy. Used paperbacks are cheap and readily available.

3.) Keep a small tool box handy. It will be a good time to finish all those little repair jobs you’ve been putting off because you didn’t have “time”.

4.) Keep your gun cleaning kit handy. You can use the extra time to clean your firearms with all the “spare time”.

5.) If you have a hobby, you might be able to work on that in the time that you are spending inside.

For those of you who suffer from technology dependence, you will need to make sure the battery on your laptop computer is fully charged so you can play your computer games. For those of you who spend a great deal of time outdoors, cabin fever can be a very real problem if you don't plan for some simple "indoor" activities.

Keeping yourself occupied is the best cure for cabin fever. Keeping a few simple items handy and available will insure you won’t suffer from its effects.

Got fever?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

A good time to work on barter good's too,such as making afghan's or quilt's, leather good's or such.
Dean in Az

Mo said...

Good advice. I'd also add that - if possible - some sort of human interaction is desirable. Social skills degrade, I've noticed it in myself and others who have lived remotely for an extended period.

riverwalker said...

To: AZ Dean

Leatherworking is a great skill and will keep you busy. You can also do a little machinist work also! Thanks.

RW

Home on the Range said...

I had family and their kids here for a spell once when the power went out and the roads weren't passable. A couple things that helped. I keep a box of dominoes handy. The adults will play various versions of them. they had fun learning, and we had fun playing. Little kids will just "play" with them, and they only take up space about the size of a box of envelopes.

riverwalker said...

To: Mo

Hopefully you won't get caught alone and will have someone to share the expierence.Thanks.

RW

riverwalker said...

To: Brigid

Yea, got to have dominoes! They hold the state domino championships not far from my place.

Kids are really amazing. Give them a stick, a ball, or just a plain old cardboard box and their imagination takes over.Thanks for the great insight!

RW

BTW, My grandson loves to "cook"! He will play with the wife's pots and pans all day. He does make a mess when he drags them all out but the wife enjoys it.

Anonymous said...

good advice! me I will reload more .308

HermitJim said...

All good advise, my friend. A little diversion is always a good thing.

Many lessons for the older folks...watching children use their imagination to entertain themselves should be a good lesson for us all and make us use what we have to the best possible advantage..

riverwalker said...

To: Pickdog

Reloading works.

RW

riverwalker said...

To: HermitJim

Imagination works too! This is a good thing. Thanks.

RW

Thomas Miller said...

I love to fly fishing and tying flies is obviously part of it. I keep my basic tying kit in my RV, and have extended supplies to bring on-board in the event of a bug-out. This is a great tip - Thanks!

riverwalker said...

TO: RV Survivalist

Fly fishing is a great sport. Tying flies will be a good way to pass time. Thanks.

RW

Anonymous said...

Just had a memory... I had a great grandmother in a nursing home,her hobby was making quilt's. We'd go to the fabric store,buy up remnant's and such.. then hit goodwill,we'd buy garbage bag's of used pantyhose for near nothing. Grandma would cut the fabric into 5x5 piece's,stitch them into a 3 sided pocket,stuff pantyhose into it, sew it shut, then sew the pocket shut. Then sew them all into a quilt. I still have a few!
Dean in Az

Anonymous said...

Hi Nice Blog .I think HR understands the importance of other people tracking time--IT, Lawyers, non-exempt employees, but struggles with the idea of web based timecard.

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