Space Fever

Space Fever usually occurs on one of one's first space voyages,at the moment, when the person realizes that there is no planet and no human life around for lightyears to come.

A case of Space Fever is divided into multiple phases.

It starts with the patient being unusually quiet and distanced from other people aboard the Spaceship. This is phase 1, in which they are trying to comprehend the afformentioned realization, of being alone in the middle of nowhere.

If they fail to, phase 2 will be entered, in which the affected person becomes very active and starts to sweat and talk uncontrollably.

This phase will either end with the patient calming down or falling into a feverish coma, which is known as phase 3, from which subjects usually awake after up to 12 hours.

In most cases the patient will at the very latest now be cured, however sometimes they will enter phase 4, which is like a worse phase 2. Additionally to the usual symptoms the subject will become agressive towards other people and things and lose every sane thought.

If the phase 4 condition doesn't improve after one day, the patient will enter phase 5, which is a vegetative state, with minimal cognitive activity. There are no known cases of recovery from phase 5

In about 50% of cases the patient will recover after phase 1 and in 40% after phase 2. 1% will die during phase 3 and 5% will awake from it. When reaching phase 4 there is a 50:50 chance of recovery or entering phase 5.

If the affected person does not reach phase 5, the resulting mental damage will not be critical, but can be traumatic if phases 3 or 4 are reached. Also the subject's actions during the mania of phase 4 can be traumatic. If phase 5 is reached the brain damage is irreperable.

The possibility to catch Space Fever can be lowered, if one prepares mentally for their first space trips. It is also more likely to catch the condition aboard smaller ships with less people aboard.

The condition usually is not transmitted from person to person, but however it is possible that one case of Space Fever triggers more cases or makes already existing cases worse.

The first cases of Space Fever occured during the first era of exploration, but were dismissed as individual cases until the condition was classified many years later. The condition is getting more rare nowadays, because of better education, although it remains relatively common.