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Guarding Your Mental and Emotional Health, by C.T.M.
One aspect of our lives that can take us out and render even the most prepared of preppers useless is our mental health. Very few people have ever experienced a long duration high stress environment to test their mental strength. The incredible men and women of the military may be among the elite few who can attest to how their mental health might survive in a post TEOTWAWKI environment. Police, first responders, EMS personnel, and firefighters may have a glimpse into what it takes to survive mentally in high stress environments; however, those stressful events, even the most complicated are short lived in comparison to the amount of time we may have to live in a post TEOTWAWKI environment.
So what type of stresses are we really talking about and how bad can it really affect me? Answering these questions we must be very general since the stress of having to use a 5 gallon bucket as a toilet may tax some, while another may not show the signs of stress taxing on their mental stamina until after months or even years of enduring chronic stressful situations. Textbooks define stress as a negative force that adversely impacts your mental, emotional, or physical well being. So stresses can be anything and potentially everything in a post TEOTWAWKI environment. The stresses we can be certain of are a lack of some if not all modern conveniences that we have today, changes in our daily routines, guard duty shifts, death, potentially having to take someone’s life, and so many more. Most of these stresses- in our very nature as preppers-we are not only ready for but may actually look forward too. But one question remains, does everyone in our group feel the same way? The impact that stress and chronic stressful situations have on our body is astounding. Stress has significant impact on the immune system, making it more likely for someone under stress to become ill or injured. Long duration stress can cause a bunch of different chronic medical problems such as asthma, chronic pain, high blood pressure, bowel disorders, and many more. Most of these problems are due to long term secretion of the hormones and chemicals our bodies produce during stressful “fight or flight situations.” Not to mention chronic stress decreases the body’s ability to heal. It may even effect a child’s development which has been shown through studies of children growing up in abusive environments.
What can be done to ready oneself for the mental and emotional drain of a post TEOTWAWKI environment? As Mr. Rawles and countless others suggest, take a class. There are many different resources out there that can help educate you or someone in your group to be able to identify of signs and symptoms of chronic harmful stress, ways to mediate that stress, and if necessary basic treatment for individuals suffering from disorders associated with stress. Most classes are labeled as Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). If you are unable to take a course, please accept the warning that a stressful or traumatic situations may render the best prepper useless, here are a few ways to prevent stress from destroying you and your compound from the inside.
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