I didn't stumble across anything like this, but if a topic has already been made, I apologize.
I'd like to have a discussion on the psychology and mindset of being in a survival situation. I will give you the information I've gained based on my experiences in the military, and how to achieve the desired mindset.
First, let's go over what happens in a survival situation.
Whatever scenario kicks off the survival events, it'll likely be traumatic. It'll be a paradigm shift in the daily lives of humanity. We'll go with something simple like a massive power outage. People will panic. They will not know what to do and where to turn for help. We are well aware of what happens when people panic. It's not pretty. Obviously, for us as preppers, we plan for disasters. We have a certain expectation of reality and mentally prepare ourselves for it. We have contingencies in place, we can handle the stress, we can endure. Right?
Maybe not.
How many of you have had to operate a week on two hours of sleep a night? How many of you have operated on adrenalin alone? Who has endured absolute fear and exhaustion, both mentally and physically, and still performed life saving tasks?
Based on my experiences in the Army (and I'm sure many others'), I will tell you that it is not something you can jump right into. You must be conditioned to ignore the small stuff, the cold, the rain, the wind, the hopelessness... Perhaps the most effective way to accomplish this is through rigorous physical training. Go on a run until you are tired, then keep going. Sprint until you puke, then keep going. Go on a six mile hike, don't stop until you've hit 12. Do whatever you can to exhaust yourself, the find the strength within you to keep going. Pain and discomfort are temporary.
One of the first lessons I ever learned, I learned the hard way. Being cold and wet sucks. It really sucks. I had to find that spark deep inside me to endure. I was tired, I was angry, I was cold and wet. On top of that, I was poked fun at by the other recruits. I wanted it to be over. I wanted to quit. I didn't. I put all of it in the back of my head and drove on.
I was once 8 miles into a 12 mile ruck with 60 pounds on my back, it was easily a hundred degrees in the El Paso desert. It started off bad, I had a shooting pain in my hip at mile 2, and by mile 6 my leg was completely numb. I was walking through soft, deep sand, my pace little more than a shuffle, yet I kept going. I kept walking until I had to be picked up. By that time my leg was so messed up, I might as well have had a wooden peg.
The point is, no matter what, you have to push pain and misery out of your head if you want to survive.
In Afghanistan, there was a period of time where my schedule allowed me only 2-4 hours of sleep per night, for a month. I had night shift on guard, 0000-0600. I had mission at 0800. We wouldn't get back until 1400-1500. Vehicle and weapon maintenance was from 1500-1700. Chow was sometime after that. Gym time was after chow. I was lucky if I was asleep by 2200.
Imagine the stress. I had all of my given duties plus my implied duties such as shower, police calls, improving our defenses, doing laundry, and whatever random event occurred. Imagine the dog and pony show we had to put on when a General showed up. It pushed us to our breaking points. Some of us were on the verge of shooting our NCO's.
In a survival situation, you will be pushed harder than you'd ever imagine you could go, but you have to forget the small stuff. So what if you're tired and hungry. If you don't keep moving, you die. If you lose hope, you die. Focus on your goal, on the task at hand. Make small gains. Reach the next tree, the rock in the distance, or even your cache if you have one.
I can't tell you how you're going to reach the mental level where you are resilient enough to endure. I can tell you that practicing helps. Go for longer with less. Reach your limit, then break it. I guarantee that if you reach the point where you thing you have to quit, you can keep going. Take one more step. Then another. When you can physically no longer do so, then you can stop.
Managing stress is the key. Don't give up, don't lose hope. Always have a backup plan.
If anyone has something they'd like to add, feel free. This is an open discussion.
