Cabin fever is the distressing claustrophobic irritability or restlessness experienced when a person, or group, is stuck at an isolated location or in confined quarters for an extended time.[1] A person may be referred to as stir-crazy, derived from the use of stir meaning "prison".[2]
A person may experience cabin fever in a situation such as being isolated within a vacation cottage out in the countryside, spending long periods underwater in a submarine, or being otherwise isolated from civilization, for instance during a stay-at-home order or under martial law. During cabin fever, a person may experience sleepiness or sleeplessness, have a distrust of anyone they are with, or have an urge to go outside even in adverse conditions such as poor weather or limited visibility. The concept is also invoked humorously to indicate simple boredom from being home alone for an extended period of time.[3]
Cabin fever is not itself a disease and there is no diagnosis. However, related symptoms can lead the sufferer to make irrational decisions that could potentially threaten their life or the life of the group with whom they are confined. Some examples would be suicide or paranoia, or leaving the safety of a cabin during a terrible snow storm that one may be stuck in.[4]
One therapy for cabin fever is as simple as getting out and interacting with nature directly. Research has demonstrated that even brief interactions with nature can promote improved cognitive functioning, support a positive mood, and overall well-being.[5] Escaping the confinement of the indoors and changing one's scenery and surroundings can easily help an individual experiencing cabin fever improve their mental state. Going outside to experience the openness of the world will stimulate the brain and body enough to eliminate feelings of intense claustrophobia, paranoia, and restlessness associated with cabin fever.[6]
There is little evidence of those suffering from cabin fever seeing therapists or counselors for treatment; most sufferers simply discuss their symptoms with family or friends as a way of coping with feelings of loneliness and boredom.[citation needed] However, there are cases of "cabin fever" that are diagnosed as mid-winter depression,[7] or seasonal affective disorder (SAD).[8]
The concept of cabin fever was used as a theme in Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1866 novel Crime and Punishment, Chaplin's 1925 film The Gold Rush, Stefan Zweig's 1948 novella The Royal Game, the 2011 children's comedy book Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever, the 1980 horror film The Shining and The Simpsons episode "Mountain of Madness." In the 1996 film Muppet Treasure Island the crew of the Hispaniola sing a production number about succumbing to cabin fever. The 2019 psychological horror film The Lighthouse depicts the story of two lighthouse keepers who start to lose their sanity when a storm strands them on the remote island where they are stationed.[9] The television show Mythbusters had Adam and Jamie simulate a cabin fever scenario. The hosts concluded that the myth of cabin fever was plausible since the hosts did develop some psychological symptoms commonly associated with cabin fever. An episode of the YouTube animated series Murder Drones is titled "Cabin Fever".
Cabin Fever is a 2002 American horror comedy film[2] co-written and directed by Eli Roth (in his directorial debut) and starring Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, and Giuseppe Andrews. The story follows a group of college graduates who rent a cabin in the woods and begin to fall victim to a flesh-eating disease. The inspiration for the film's story came from a real-life experience during a trip to Iceland when Roth developed a skin infection.
Henry, a hermit walking in the woods, encounters his dog, dead from a blood infection, and becomes infected himself from contact with his dog's blood. Meanwhile, college students Jeff, Marcy, Paul, Karen, and Bert take a vacation to a remote cabin to celebrate October break. Bert leaves to hunt squirrels but accidentally shoots and further wounds the now disfigured and bloody Henry. Despite Henry's pleas for aid, Bert flees and remains silent about the incident.
The students gather around a campfire that night, where they are joined by a friendly drifter named Grimm and his pet dog, Dr. Mambo. When it rains, Grimm leaves with his dog to pack up his belongings. While the friends wait for Grimm, Henry returns, begging for help. When Bert shuts the door on the sick hermit, he tries stealing the group's car while vomiting blood. When Henry approaches Marcy and Karen, Paul accidentally sets him on fire. While seeking help the next day, Jeff and Bert encounter a butcher but leave after learning that she is Henry's cousin. Paul receives assistance from police Deputy Winston, who promises to send up a tow truck. Paul tries comforting Karen, who is upset over the killing of Henry. After calming her down, Paul attempts to have sex with her; as he reaches between her legs, he discovers a bloody, infected wound on her thigh. The group isolates her in a shed.
After fixing the truck, Bert coughs up blood but does not tell the others to prevent a panic. Bert drives off after Paul and Jeff discover that he has caught the disease. Jeff takes the remaining beer and leaves, terrified of becoming infected. Bert seeks help at a convenience store but angers the owner after his son, Dennis, bites him. Bert flees, chased by Dennis's father and two friends. At the cabin, Marcy worries that they will all contract the disease. Paul comforts her, and they impulsively have sex. Soon after, he leaves the cabin to find Jeff, while Marcy takes a bath, crying. As she shaves her legs, the flesh begins to peel off and she runs outside in a panic, where she is eaten alive by Dr. Mambo.
Paul discovers Henry's body floating in the reservoir, and realizes that the infection is spreading through the water supply. Returning to the cabin, Paul finds Marcy's remains and Dr. Mambo feeding on Karen. After killing Dr. Mambo with Bert's gun, he bludgeons Karen with a shovel out of mercy. A dying Bert returns to the cabin pursued by Dennis's father and his two companions. The posse kills Bert, and Paul kills all three of them. Paul looks for Jeff; he instead finds Grimm's corpse in a cave. Paul takes the convenience store's truck, and, while driving, discovers that he is infected before hitting a deer. He reunites with Deputy Winston, who is partying with underage drinkers. Paul requests a ride to the hospital, but before the group departs, Winston is ordered to kill on sight several infected people on a killing spree.
Paul attacks but does not kill Winston. He runs towards the busy street, attempting to hitch a ride however he falls unconscious. A passing vehicle does stop to pick him up and drops him off at a hospital. The doctors unknowingly request him to be transported to another medical facility, by Deputy Winston.
Jeff, who has been hiding out and drinking in the woods, returns to the cabin the next day. Initially crying after seeing the remains of his friends, he becomes ecstatic upon realizing that he is the only survivor. As he raises his arms in victory, he is killed by local police, and his body burned with the remains of Bert and Karen. The sheriff asks Winston if he took care of Paul.
A boy and a girl get water from the lake for their lemonade stand, not realizing that a barely alive Paul is in the lake and the water is now contaminated. The sheriff and his deputies stop by the convenience store, owned by the children's grandfather, where they buy glasses of lemonade, tainted by the contaminated water.
Eli Roth co-wrote Cabin Fever with friend and former NYU roommate Randy Pearlstein in 1995 while Roth was working as a production assistant for Howard Stern's Private Parts.[4] Roth was inspired to write the script after getting an intense skin infection after working on a farm in Iceland.[5] Early attempts to sell the script were unsuccessful because studios felt that the horror genre had become unprofitable.[6] In 1996, the film Scream was released to great success, leading studios to once again become interested in horror properties. Roth still could not sell his script, as studios told him that it should be more like Scream.[6] Many potential financiers also found the film's content to be unsettling, including not only the gore but also the use of the word "nigger" early in the film.
Various elements of the script were inspired by Roth's favorite horror films, including The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), The Last House on the Left (1972), and The Evil Dead (1981).[7] David Lynch, whom Roth had worked under during the early stages of his career, had signed on to executive produce the film.[8][5] However, Lynch is not credited in the final product.
The auditions for the character of Marcy had been scheduled to take place on September 11, 2001.[6] The scene the producers had chosen for the auditioning actresses was the build-up to Marcy's sex scene with Paul. In the scene, Marcy is convinced that all the students are doomed and despite Paul's reassurances, she describes their situation as "like being on a plane, when you know it's gonna crash. Everybody around you is screaming 'We're Going Down! We're Going Down!' and all you want to do is grab the person next to you and fuck them, because you know you're going to be dead soon, anyway." Eli Roth and the producers tried to cancel the Marcy auditions, but the general chaos caused by the attacks made it impossible for them to reach many of the actresses who were scheduled to try out for the role.[citation needed] In October 2001, Jordan Ladd and James DeBello entered negotiations to join the film. Michael Rosenbaum was set to star in the film, but would later vacate the project.[8]
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