How to Be Prepared Mentally For Survival

How to Be Prepared Mentally For Survival


By Lisa M Martin

In most cases, survival is ensured prior to catastrophic events. Knowledge of survival skills is necessary to help cope after life threatening occurrences. Nowadays, victims are taught the necessary mental skills to help rid them of their frustrations.

Stress

People should be able to manage stress, as it impacts both their mental and physical wellbeing. Lack of this knowledge would result in heavy mental illness that could lead to substance abuse. Victims of catastrophic events often find solace in substances that make it easier to ignore what has happened them. The ability to cope with stress is sometimes genetic, but is typically a learned survival skill. Lack of mental survival can result in some the following effects.

• Disorders in posttraumatic circumstances
• Severe to mild depression
• At some point suicide
• Debilitating panic attacks
• Psychotic breaks

Failure to cope with stress may result in physical illness, as levels of cortisols produced by the body will be high. This is the body's response mechanism in a fight or flight situations. An overload of this substance might go to the extent of seizures and hallucinations.

Cortisol provides a lot of energy and raises our body's tolerance to pain. Our attention capacity to dangerous situations also shoots up with it. However, it is not supposed to stay long in the human body, making it imperative that victims of catastrophic circumstances know how to handle stressful situations.

Coping Strategies

Some people have stronger abilities to withstand stress than others. This resilience comes from being prepared-either genetically or with learned knowledge-to handle these forms of calamities. Here are the characteristics of an individual who is well-equipped to handle stressful situations:

1. They view problems as opportunities and not impediments.
2. They exhibit a philosophy of having a will where there is a way.
3. They are able to think outside the box.
4. They have high emotional intelligence and self-esteem.
5. They are able to downplay their grief and focus on what they want to do.
6. They have wide comfort zones, thus enabling them to comfortably undergo unpleasant situations.

Resilience in Survival

Resilience is the reason why some individuals with past traumatic experience later lead successful lives. Overindulgence in substances is normally a follow up to a catastrophic event, but with time and guidance, one can get back on track and live fully once again. Here are some guidelines for being resilient:

1. Find something amusing in every moment.

2. Involve yourself in gaming activities.

3. Enjoy the healing effects of meditation.

4. Always keep a journal. Use it to narrate your fears and hope. This is a better way to help you handle your stress. With time, you gain insight into the solution regarding your current situation.

5. Do not berate yourself about a problem for which you were unprepared. Have in mind that everybody is a human are we are all bound to make mistakes. Learn from mistakes.

6. Take a considerable amount of your time to sleep. Seven to eight hours of sleep per night is recommended. Remember that your brain functions better with sufficient sleep. Sleep deprivation rapidly decreases our thinking capabilities. This leads to poor decisions and simple but costly mistakes.

7. Being afraid is normal. Come up with an honest appraisal of your situation. Take a deep breath and understand the reason why you are afraid. This will come naturally as a response to your feelings. Reacting appropriately to the situation and rectifying it as soon as possible increases your chances of surviving it.

8. As you prepare for the worst, have hope for the best. Learn how to convert impediments into opportunities.

Another area of importance is your anger. Learn effective means of controlling your anger. Engaging in gaming activities will help put your mind in a constructive mode. A combination of anger management skills and the above will ensure survival in any situation that comes your way. All the mistakes we do to get ourselves into daring situations are just mirrors for us to improve in future.

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