Dormatitus

Dormatitus

Dormatitus is a slang term that has been used for years by college students to describe the less appealing aspects of living in a Dormitory -- such as sleeping on a used mattress or being hooked up with roommates that engage in activities that could land you in jail. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a dormitory as:

1: a room for sleeping ; especially : a large room containing numerous beds.
2: a residence hall providing rooms for individuals or for groups usually without private baths.

While dormatitus may never find its way into Merriam-Webster, as campuses become more crowded and living spaces become more confined, there's no question it's an absolutely real condition of college life.According to the tongue-in-cheek definitions offered by a popular off-campus residence in Lexington, KY, Dormatitus - also known as dormitis - is a medical condition that affects students living in dorm rooms. Symptoms include, but aren’t limited to:

Self-conscious feelings about your living space.

A general itching to escape.

General feelings of ewww.

Highly contagious, the disease is commonly transmitted through:

Sharing small refrigerators.

Using communal bathrooms.

Repeated usage of meal plans.

Rare cases have also been linked to excessive consumption of ramen-style noodles.

Though authors Joan Raymond and Devin Gordon don't make actual mention of dormatitus in their Newsweek article, Won't You Be My Neighbor, they do allude to the challenges posed by on-campus living:

Nothing, not even little brothers, can prepare most college freshmen for the experience of dorm life. ... Even the spiffiest new buildings are often cramped and antiseptic. And like everything else associated with college, room-and-board prices in the past decade have gone from kick-to-the-groin to knife-in-the-gut.

The cost of room-and-board, in addition to some real drawbacks of campus living, has increasingly led many students to move into apartments to rid themselves of the condition known as dormatitus. While many adults look back on their college dorm experiences nostalgically, living in a traditional college dorm isn't for the weak at heart.

As noted in Wisegeek, Living in a college dorm is a lot like living in a fish bowl. You need to be prepared for the invasion of privacy that is part and parcel of dormatitus. Some of your fellow residents may become lifelong friends, while others may make your life miserable. Your new best friend and your worst enemy may each live two doors away.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu