How do I keep from going stir-crazy during Ebola pandemic?

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I may not be the most social person in the world but in spite of all the things I have to keep myself entertained I find I can't go longer than two or three days before I'm bored, anxious, uneasy and have to get outside. even if it's just a short trip to the store. I was just reading about Ebola in the US and how horrible it is, they said that it's "out of control", how you can pick it up from anything that has body fluids on it from an infected person, so I guess I'll have to choose wearing adult diapers over using a public bathroom, and once you do there is very little chance of surviving and the symptoms are horrible and it's one of the worst diseases in the world. And of course there are people who are stupid enough to think the disease does not exist or that faith healers will do what even doctors can't, which could result in spreading the disease even more. This was on a weather/news network I go on almost daily, and I don't know if this is all a bunch of fear-mongering hogwash or if not believing the situation is that bad is basically hiding my head in the proverbial sand and being all "who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf". But since this may result in my not being able to even leave my home for weeks or even months, even if I have plenty of food and supplies what is there to keep me from losing it mentally? I'll be stir-crazy, the walls will start to feel like closing in, I'll develop hallucinations and delusions from being more isolated from anything even somewhat interesting than usual and one day I run outside screaming and half-naked until I get hit by a car or catch the virus and my organs get liquified and shoot out both ends. I would sincerely rather kill myself than die that way, should I get some cyanide? Should I kill myself now?

I haven't gone anywhere since Thursday evening, the stir-craziness has already started.

You could maintain some form of sanity by educating as many people as you can about the importance of hand hygiene.

It is a small step but is doing something achievable and worthwhile.

This.

You're more likely to die in a car crash than get Ebola.

There is currently one person in the US known to have Ebola. You are more likely to die from breathing in polluted air than to get Ebola. I feel bad for anyone who is actually scared of this non-sense.

I am a chemist, it is well known that cyanide poisoning is very painful. It is not an instant death.

Also Ebola is a virus which is not easy to spread unless a person with the disease is very ill or dead from what I have heard.

It's out of control in Sierra Leone, not America. Sierra Leone is in Africa. I read parts of the newspaper article that the TV program probably quoted, and the entire article was talking about Africa, not the US. Part of the problem in Africa is that the people have a very primitive mindset, they turn to witch doctors for healing, for example. Many don't believe the virus exists, they think it's a plot. Also, people in that part of Africa kiss the corpse before burial, so it's spreading that way. Sierra Leone went through a 20 year civil war that ended in the late 2000s, so any medical infrastructure they had before the war was destroyed or looted. There are only a handful of people in the US who have Ebola, and most of them were doctors and nurses working in Africa. So calm down.

Buy lots of gasoline. It should be safe enough to drive around in your car with the windows rolled up, assuming there hasn't been a complete breakdown of society. If there has been a complete societal breakdown, you won't be bored at all.

for gawd's sake, stop getting your "news" from any branch of rupert murdoc's newscorp. they don't distribute factual information, they are merely hyperbolic fear mongers.

So, while this is inaccurate information- once a person is symptomatic, they are contagious- it is unlikely that Ebola will become a world-wide pandemic. It is highly unlikely it is the Captain Trips of our reality nor anything approaching it. It is a pretty damn serious situation, but to say everyone needs to hunker down with months of supplies is, at this point, a fairly ridiculous idea and is likely to only insight panic, fear, and continue the spread of misinformation [all of which can actually create real problems].

Maybe get info from several different reliable news sources in order to attempt to get fairly balanced coverage instead of from one source of panic stricken fools.

...just an idea.

Local news from North East Scotland earlier this week.

EBOLA WARNING TO OIL WORKERS

You do have to come in very close contact with someone, or with something they had contact with, so it is fairly limited in how one can get exposed.

So realistically you don't have to worry unless you are in proximity of infected people.

If you lived in West Africa your concerns and preventive measures would be logical and a good idea. For there it really is out of control.

But there is none in Canada, so you have a pretty big buffer zone and do not need to change your life any at this point. Doing so is over-reacting and I think you can approach it that way and perhaps talk to your doctor about it. Things like that, unreasonable anxiety, is common and treatable. You don't have to live in this uncomfortable mental state.

And it is not out of control in the USA. There is one patient who brought it in, uncontrolled, in Texas, and all the people he had contact with are going under observation. And some, his immediate relatives, in quarantine. I think this and any outbreak in the US will be contained, and not spread.

With proper resources and medical professionals Ebola outbreaks are able to be eventually contained and eliminated. About 7 outbreaks, mostly in the area historically known as the Congo, were handled in this way before this latest one. Like the doctors say, they know how to handle this. But they need cooperation from the populace. That is what was lacking in West Africa.

Ebola is nowhere as contagious as was smallpox.

And we survived, didn't we.

ruveyn

According to Popular Science, only 12-18 people are at risk from ebola in the US. It's not "out of control"; one person has it, and it's spread through direct contact with bodily fluids. There is no epidemic in America. You'll be fine.
It actually is out of control in Africa, but the US doesn't care until white people get hurt.

I think this topic brings up an issue that's fun to discuss - what to do about boredom in a post-apocalyptic world. Currently, most people use electronic devices to entertain themselves a for a good portion of their free time. What happens if that's no longer an option? Additionally, a person might find him/herself with a LOT more free time on their hands - holed up waiting for the zombie horde to pass by, for example, or all alone sitting by a campfire of an evening. Entertainment, while it can seem a trivial concern compared to safety and obtaining food, is important in preserving a person's mental health. Perhaps, in addition to batteries and cans of beans, doomsday preppers should be stocking their shelters with stacks of books and board games?

Then people have to entertain themselves in the same people did before there where electronic devices that could be used for that.

I'm thinking home brewed alcoholic beverages.