Domains of Survival

Life is a very complicated realm. As with most things in life some people excel in some areas and falter in others. We tend to focus on what we do well and ignore our weaknesses. It is difficult for many to even admit they have weaknesses because to admit weakness means we have an obligation to address it. It means that we are less than perfect, ill prepared, and not well rounded. Too often our self-perception tends to be more positive than reality. This is human nature. We like to emphasize the good and diminish the bad.  Yet, if you claim to be a prepper, survivalist, prepared citizen, or just ready for what may come then you owe it to yourself to conduct and honest self-reflection to inventory your strengths and weaknesses. Too often I have encountered people whose ego exceeds their skill level. These people are setting themselves up for failure. This can be avoided with honest self-reflection.

Generally, preppers are preparing for the worst case scenario. They have their go bags ready, plenty of food and water, a safe shelter, a 4 wheel drive vehicle, and all the “gear” they need to survive their crisis. It is exactly during this crisis that your weaknesses will rise to the surface. It is also the worst time to have to deal with these problems that arise. Life is a very complicated realm. Life is multifaceted. Life is not one dimensional. Let’s review some domains of life that may not be thought of yet are important parts of prepping and crisis management. What is covered is not necessarily all encompassing.

Life Domains:

Health

If you are in poor health or not physically fit to handle the extra stress and workload during a crisis you will be severely hampered in your ability to survive. I am always amused when I see “preppers” on YouTube proudly displaying their survival stuff as they are out of breath just talking to the camera. They are overweight, out of shape, and physically not prepared. If you fit into this category go to your doctor to be evaluated and to develop a plan to get you as healthy as possible.  

It is also understandable that some people have medical conditions that will not improve. In these cases it is important to be in as good of shape as your condition will allow. Never criticize someone who is doing the best with what they have. If someone is confined to a wheelchair or has a chronic medical ailment the key is to manage your condition as best as possible. Chronic medical conditions only add to the complexity of managing a crisis. This is a difficult situation.  

Legal

Too often people state that they will behave in an illegal manner during a crisis. Now, there may be times when one is faced with a situation when breaking the law may be necessary. But, I encourage people to remain legal, moral, and ethical during times of crisis. A crisis does not give you the right to behave in a manner that is contrary to your normal behavior.

A “Without Rule of Law” (WROL) situation would be a very uncommon situation in the United States. If a WROL situation occurred over an extended period of time you may very well be placed in situations where you have to make very difficult decisions. Do what you need to do to protect yourself and your family. But remember you still may be held accountable for your actions at a later point in time. And, even if you are not held legally responsible you still have to live with the decisions you make. An unintended consequence might be how your spouse and children react to your decisions. It is important to have an ethical and moral compass to help guide your decisions.

Relationships

In this domain I am specifically referring to your spouse and/or children. A crisis is difficult on everyone involved even if you are relatively well prepared. You cannot escape the added stress that comes with a crisis. If your relationship with family is strained during normal times expect them to get worse during a crisis. Yes, there is the possibility that the crisis will bring everyone together but this is no guarantee. Now is the time to fix strained or broken relationships. The key to a healthy relationship is compromise and creating a win/win atmosphere for all parties involved. During a crisis it is especially important to have strong family bonds so that you build off the family dynamic.

Financial

The economic crisis our country has faced over the last 5 years has reached almost everyone except for the very wealthy. Many Americans have lost their jobs, homes, savings, and self-esteem. Credit card debt and bills have really placed a burden on the majority of people. If you fit into this category develop a plan to become financially stable. Unfortunately it is easy to get into debt and difficult to get out of its grasp. Develop a plan and work it. It may take you years to get financially healthy but you have to start somewhere.

Knowledge

Knowledge is king. Knowledge is power. Knowledge is strength. Following is a quote I recently came across:

“Buckminster Fuller created the “Knowledge Doubling Curve”; he noticed that until 1900 human knowledge doubled approximately every century. By the end of World War II knowledge was doubling every 25 years. Today things are not as simple as different types of knowledge have different rates of growth. For example, nanotechnology knowledge is doubling every two years and clinical knowledge every 18 months. But on average human knowledge is doubling every 13 months.  According to IBM, the build out of the “internet of things” will lead to the doubling of knowledge every 12 hours.”

It is safe to say that it is virtually impossible to keep up with the expansion of knowledge. Yet, it is critical to know as much as possible about areas that are important to your activities. Also, because so much knowledge is available it is important to be able to quickly and accurately obtain the relevant information to your needs and discard the rest. This may not be as easy as it sounds especially if you lack formal education that has exposed you to research methodology.

It is important to have knowledge on a wide variety of subjects such as: medicine, pharmacology, psychology, hunting, weapons, ballistics, food storage and preparation, electricity, astronomy, meteorology, veterinary medicine, engineering, radio communications, information technology, etc.

Safety

At the end of the day most preppers prep to provide a level of safety for themselves and their family. Safety is a wide topic that encompasses a lot of different aspects. Too many preppers think safety is just about guns and ammo but this would be a very simplistic view. Safety also involves tactics, techniques, mindset, verbal de-escalation, use of force, legal aspects, surveillance, intelligence, communications, etc. Safety is much more than the ability to squeeze a trigger. The majority of preppers need to expand their horizons well beyond the guns and ammo philosophy. Otherwise they will be ill prepared to respond appropriately.

Conclusion

There are many other domains that can be included in this article but it is up to you to evaluate your needs through honest self-assessment and reflection. Work on areas that need to be improved or developed and spend less time on what you do well. Being a one trick pony is not a survival plan.

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//TC

© 2013

Mental Health of Preppers

Over the last few years there has been an abundance of reality shows related to survival and prepping. These shows highlight people who go to the extreme in order to guarantee their survival should a catastrophic event occur. Being prepared is generally a good thing but what about being prepared to the extreme. Yes, some will argue that you can never be prepared enough but is this really the case. This article may end up offending some although that is not my intention. While “reality” television show generally have very little reality involved one aspect that cannot be overlooked is the psychology of such extreme preppers. While I am not aware of a textbook definition of Extreme Prepper I will offer my own:

An Extreme Prepper is an individual or group of individuals who spend an overwhelming portion of time, energy, resources, and money, at the expense of other obligations or activities, preparing for the possibility of a future catastrophic event that is natural or man-made.

Examining this definition in more detail highlights many factors:

• Can apply to an individual or a group (group can be family, friends, extended network)
• Spends a lot of time, energy, resources and money
• Prepping at the exclusion of other activities
• Prepping for a future event can lead to a sense of urgency to get prepared
• A catastrophic event can be a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, flash flood, civil unrest, electromagnetic pulse, weapon of mass destruction, etc.

Most of us have watched one version or other of the numerous “Doomsday” television shows. If you scan the Internet you will see a lot of discussion about such shows. Opinions are definitely not in short supply. A common theme that often comes up is the mental status of some of these people. They are often referred to using non-clinical terms such as: crazy, lunatic, wacked out, nuts, fringe, psycho, out there, over the top, and a host of other adjectives. While these terms are typically used in a judgmental and condescending manner there may be some truth if you scratch beneath the surface. We need to start this discussion by asking: What causes a person to extreme prep? See, there is no doubt that prepping is a good thing. The government tells us to prep. FEMA tells us to prep. The Red Cross tells us to prep. Your employer may tell you to prep. Your house of worship may tell you to prep. It is when we go to extreme measure of prepping that we need to examine the root cause. People prep for many reasons:

• Involved in a prior disaster
• Come from a place of war or civil unrest
• Adhering to the advice of the government or other agency
• As a sense of security for you or your family
• Personal reasons

 

Yet, when one extreme preps this is going to a whole new level that may have underlying psychological reasons. Let me be clear before going any further that I am NOT implying that all who extreme prep have a mental health disorder. To accept the possibility that your prepping may be well beyond healthy requires objective self-reflection. You must be open to the possibility that you have taken your prepping to unhealthy levels. This is easier said than done as most people want to believe that nothing is wrong with them. In such cases we should then listen to those around us, those who love us such as family and friends. These people tend to look out for our best interests.

Mental health disorders possibly related to extreme prepping include:

Anxiety Disorder

• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Panic Disorder
• Specific Phobia

Personality Disorder

• Paranoid Personality Disorder
• Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Schizophrenia & Other Psychotic Disorders

• Schizophrenia
• Delusional Disorder

Arguments can be made to include other mental health disorders as well.  The key is to determining if your extreme prepping is negatively impacting you or other family members. If so, you are urged to seek professional help with a qualified mental health professional such as a counselor, therapist, social worker, clinical psychologist, and psychiatrist. Many mental health disorders can be treated with appropriate counseling, therapy, and medication as determined by your provider. Unfortunately, there is still a huge stigma associated with mental health disorders that prevent people in need from seeking appropriate help. Situations to consider getting help include:

• Preoccupation with the possibility of a looming disaster or catastrophic event
• Focusing on an event that is highly improbably
• Family members telling you that you spend too much time prepping
• Spend excessive amounts of money on prepping when you cannot afford to
• Not spending quality time with your family to work on preps
• Isolating yourself from friends and family
• Becoming excessively suspicious of anyone outside of your circle
• Spouse leaves you and friends no longer contact you
• Difficulty eating, sleeping, or concentrating
• You believe you are being controlled by an outside entity such as the government

The key to healthy prepping is balance and perspective. Generally, doing any activity to the extreme is not healthy. This is especially true if it takes you away from family, friends, loved ones, or activities that you enjoy. Also, if you are spending money on an underground bunker instead of providing essential items for your family this is a clear indication of problematic behavior. Prepping is good as long as it does not negatively impact other areas of your life. Unhealthy prepping is not good and such behavior needs to be addressed with professional assistance.

If you have a mental health disorder and the catastrophe that you are prepping for actually occurs keep in mind that your level of stress will be much higher than normal. Under the burden of such stress your mental health condition is often compounded and exacerbated. Even if you are well prepared for the catastrophic event the high level of stress will only make your mental health condition more challenging which can impair your ability to appropriately handle situations that arise. The problem here is that you may have adequately prepped for everything but your mental health. If you are an extreme prepper and have a mental health disorder now is the time to start treating your disorder prior to a real event. If SHTF and you have not dealt with your mental health issues you will have problems post-disaster even if you prepped every other aspect completely. Remember, mind and body work hand in hand. Prep them both adequately to be truly prepared.

Good luck and stay safe.

This article is informational only and is not to be used to diagnose or treat any mental health disorder. Seek appropriate care from a qualified mental health professional if needed. The author of this article has a graduate degree in counseling.

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//TC

© 2013