“Five months of peace is just what I want. […] Come out, come out, where ever you are.”
~ The Shining
We are now starting the beginning of the second week of the lockdown in the UK; what a better time to review how the first week went and make some adjustments. If you’ve been on lockdown for more than a week, now is also a good time to reflect on how you are doing. All in all, this week went pretty well for me. I have been busy with work, but I still kept time for exercising. I tried to keep a routine up (during weekdays at least) and kept in touch with people. But then, a friend of mine was wondering how long it would be until they're hit by a case of “cabin fever”, and it made me think.
Cabin fever is a folk term; it is not an actual medical term, but it is used in everyday life to refer to a claustrophobic irritability or restlessness that can occur when you are stuck in an isolated place or in confined quarters. Sounds familiar? One of the best examples of cabin fever, at least the first one that came to mind while thinking about it, is coming from S. King’s imagination and was put in image by S. Kubrick: The Shining.
The story is quite simple: Jack and his family move into and isolated hotel with the task of looking after it during the annual closing time. The weather outside is particularly unwelcoming and the hotel itself is acting a bit weird. As the time goes on, Jack starts losing his mind and demonstrate extremely violent behaviours. The rest is history.
Now, the idea of a hotel having a turbulent past and keeping memories of all that had happened between its walls can be a bit far stretch for some of us and not count as a “real-life” scenario (still scared the living hell out of me in the movie though). However, the way Jack acted could have been inspired by some very real cases of ‘cabin fever’: there have been multiple reports of explorers and scientists working in remote places for extended amount of time that started acting proper crazy. Actually attacking each other with hammer or burning the research station down.
While it’s true that in those lockdown days we are not that likely to grab a hammer and go around smashing people’s head, ‘cabin fever’ is still something to look out for. Last week, I wrote about different ways to keep busy and keep a social contact (high-speed internet was not a thing in Kubrick’s movie…). Today, I’d like to talk about two unexpected things that can help fight the gloominess of being isolated: remembering the past and listening to music.
Recalling memories of past happy times can bring back pleasant feelings linked to the original experience. This emotional state, called ‘nostalgia’, has been subject to extensive studies in order to understand its origin and its effects on the brain. Nostalgia is a very complex emotion, associated with the remembrance of past times together with the experience of (mostly) positive feelings.
However, the same memory can provoke different emotional reactions in different people; moreover, the same memory evoked at 2 different times can bring back different feeling in a given person. For example, recollecting childhood memories associated with going to school can kindle fondness in one person (“what a good time that was”) and sadness in another (“I wish my life could be as simple now as it was then”). Those differences between people can be due to differences in personalities and in how people decide to see the world (half full or half empty). Within the same person, a lack of sleep can darken memories and make people remember things more negatively. That’s something I’m sure we all have experience with, the difference a good night of sleep has on our mood.
Nostalgia is a bit of a paradox: we feel good remembering something that is no longer. It is not to be mistaken for melancholy (or melancholia in medical terms), which is associated with the feeling that nothing will ever be as good as it once was. Melancholy is a more permanent state of mind, reflecting a depressive state where people seem stuck in the past; nostalgia is generally temporary, it only lasts for the length of a memory. You can share your nostalgia with others, your melancholy is ours only. Indeed, it is possible to share with others the fondness associated with eating a specific dessert, but it could be harder for them to understand why thinking about this puts you in such a gloomy mood.
How can we use nostalgia in lockdown? Taking the time to think about the past, to reflect on how things used to be can give you something to look forward to once we are done with the quarantine. Memories of walks on the beach or picnic on the grass can help you not dwelling on the current situation and help you regulate your current moods and emotions.
Indeed, various research on nostalgia found that remembering fondly past memories activates various areas in the brain, including the one in charge of regulating emotions and the one in charge of the reward system (you know, that’s the one that delivers feel-good hormones in the brain). A team of researchers even found that nostalgia boosts our resilience, i.e., our ability to bounce back and recover quickly from difficulties. So, remember away… but don’t dwell.
The other thing that can do you good in those times is listening to music. Not any type of music: your favourite upbeat kind of music. It’s scientifically suggested. What has been scientifically proven is the impact that listening to either upbeat dance music or jazz has on your immune system: it reduces the level of cortisol (the stress hormone) and increase the level of immunoglobulin A, one of the main agents of your immune system that helps fight against virus, bacteria and other invaders. We don’t know which is best, between upbeat dance music and jazz, to boost the immune system, but what those pieces of research show is the positive impact listening to upbeat music you love has on your health. It can help you fight a cold! Basically, it could have the same positive effect as a low-intensity workout. So next time you don’t feel like exercising… you know what to do instead! If you want to boost your immune system even more, pick up an instrument and start playing/singing. Research has shown that active participation (i.e., doing) in music had a bigger impact than passive participation (i.e., listening), with a higher increase in the levels of immunoglobulin A.
Different evidences revealed that music can do things such as elevate your mood, improve the quality of your sleep, reduce anxiety, give you motivation when you work out, fight stress and bring down depression. Music can provide your immune system with a big boost. What are you waiting for? Pick up your headphones or your guitar and music away!
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N.B. I would highly recommend NOT watching The Shining at the moment… especially if you are physically distancing on your own… or in a remote area… or alone in a remote area. Even if you’re not alone really. Don’t watch it unless you can go leave your place.
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