Mental stress and coping with emotions
Fear
This post will touch on a broad range of mental issues related to fear which are not often explained very much in most survival guides or books. This is VERY important information in my opinion because a warrior's greatest weapon is his mind. If your mind is unfit or hindered you are at a much greater risk of making a bad decision which can get you killed or seriously hurt, or you may even find yourself in a position where it seems preferable to take your own life given the horror, loss and pain that can be suffered during a major disaster such as a zombie apocalypse.
Fear is a valuable tool, contrary to popular opinions about it. Fear is good in moderation and will go a very long way to keep you alive. Uncontrolled fear, however, can be extremely dangerous leading you to rash decisions which could put your health in serious risk. Prolonged fear saturation has a wide range of ill effects that can include depression or suicidal thoughts as the mind cannot cope with being in a high-fear state for extended periods of time.
So how does one go about controlling fear? There's no easy answer to this, really. The only way you can learn how you will react to fear, and how to control it, is to put yourself in fearful situations under controlled circumstances. Then at least you will have an idea how your body and mind will react to the fear stimuli and then you can exercise measures to control it so you don't make decisions which could get you hurt or killed. The only way to prepare for things like this is to see and experience it. I might add, conquering your fears while it is certainly scary to do it....gives you incredible confidence afterwards when and if you have succeeded.
There are 2 primary types of fear I am concerned about in relation to a zombie apocalypse. Flight fear, and extended fear.
Flight fear
This is the type of fear you feel when you come around a corner and get surprised by a zombie horde you weren't expecting. Or when someone puts a gun in your face. Anything that you perceive to be a cause of immediate bodily harm or death causes the same reactions, only different degrees. Understanding and dealing with those reactions will allow you to control your decisions even in the face of extreme circumstances, which may very well be the difference between life and death.
Flight fear is immediate, and hard. It is your body's natural reaction to danger, elevating your adrenaline levels and increasing your heartbeat. Your muscles tense and your breathing quickens as your body readies itself in a fight or flight response to danger. Your brain goes into hyperdrive, but especially at higher perceived threat and heartbeat levels your logical part of your brain is sometimes short-circuited. There are many reasons why this happens but most of them are irrelevant as to WHY it happens. What matters is that you learn to cope and control the HOW it happens.
Controlling this type of fear is *paramount* as in a zombie apocalypse there are a myriad of dangers you will be facing. If you blindly rush away from a pack of zombies only to break your leg tripping on something you are very likely just as dead as if you hadn't run.
Here are some tips for controlling this type of fear:
1) Slow down. Unless you are going to die RIGHT THEN, stop and force your breathing to slow down somewhat. When your heartbeat gets near 150 beats per minute, studies have shown conclusively that you simply do not think rationally. You react on instinct, and that can save your life in some ways perhaps but may very well put it at a greater risk when you have a wide array of threats you face at once.
2) Take combat training. Martial arts classes, boxing, whatever. Anything that puts you in combat in a controlled situation with an experienced coach will go a long way to help you keep a cool head during a high stress situation. Not many of us have been military/police trained and learned how to cope with this stress. Trust me, this is one thing you don't want to learn on the job in the middle of a zombie invasion. Taking combat sport is not only good for you, but will really show you how your body can react and how you can keep your mind sharp when it counts.
3) Be prepared and informed. Many, many people will die during a massive zombie outbreak because they were caught off guard. The majority will not be prepared, nor know essential skills so they can stay alive with or without gear to use. They will not have a plan. They will not know what to do when the fear grips them. As a result of this, many people will die. By being informed you learn not only your own capabilities, but at least have an idea of what you'll do in a nasty situation. Having at least a skeleton of a plan when things go wrong can make a world of difference when it comes to your survival.
4) Be brutally honest. This, for most people, is something they will fail at. Realizing that your entire neighborhood has turned into ravenous flesh-eating zombies is a monstrous shock to your body and your mind. Finding yourself in a situation where you may be fighting for your life on many occasions including perhaps even having to dispatch people that you knew when they got turned into zombies is HARD. There's no doubt about that. Realizing this ahead of time may just be the difference that you need to be able to keep your cool head, and that can keep you alive.
Extended fear
This is a more insidious danger, but not as apparent in many cases. Extended fear has a wide range of negative effects upon both the body and the mind. Most people will be fully unprepared to deal with this as we've lived in a relatively safe and reasonably secure society with many safety nets. In a large scale zombie apocalypse, all of that will be brutally stripped away and removed. You will be running for your life, you will be fighting for your life, and safety is never guaranteed. You may run out of food, water, or ammo, or medicine and find yourself in a bad spot. You will have to struggle with the realizations that most of humanity is wiped out, and your own chances of long-term survival might be slim. All of these things and more will be pressures that push upon your mind almost constantly, and that can be incredibly dangerous.
Mental fatigue from emotional stress as well as physical reasons will probably be the number 1 killer after the zombies themselves. Survivors will be facing a wide array of tough emotions like grief, loss, anger, horror and despair. This will lead to some people making rash choices out of desperation, or perhaps even considering taking their own life because they have lost the hope of finding other people and having any measure of safety.
Again, there is no easy set of rules that can just 'fix' this. Every person is going to have to come to their own balance of things, and many will probably fail to do so. Here are a few things that you can do to try and alleviate at least some of the long-term effects of fear saturation.
1) Stay busy. Allowing your mind to drift here and there is fine, but allowing it to drift too long can lead you down a chain of thoughts that will become destructive. If, for instance, you stop and think about how many zombies there are it's not a far leap to realizing that they were all people, and speculating that there might not be any more people out there anymore. If there aren't any more people, and you're alone and it's dark and you haven't spoken to anyone for days/weeks/months...you may lose hope that there is any reason to stay alive. You may even think it's a good idea to end it yourself so you don't turn into a zombie as well. Interrupt this thought process as often as you can so it doesn't chain like this. Stay busy, make plans even if they are ridiculous. Check your perimeter/shelter's safety. Assess food/water/medicine/ammo daily and think about how you can get more without putting yourself in too much danger. Focus on the constructive things you can do, not all the destructive things that have happened.
2) Dehumanize the zombies. I know this sounds harsh. I know they were people, but they're not any longer. But if you allow yourself to think of zombies as your friends, your fellow city-mates, whatever...and you can't act when you need to act you...are....going....to....die. Think of them as parasites, cordwood, mannequins, whatever you need to do to convince yourself that what you are dealing with is no longer human. Do not attach emotion to the disposal or elimination of zombies, but also be aware that you need to self-monitor so that you don't lose your own humanity. Killing is never (nor should it be) an easy thing. But in a zombie apocalypse, sooner or later it WILL be necessary. It is better if you can armor yourself up with some mental padding to soften the blow when you have to do what you have to do to survive.
3) Focus on beauty as much as you can. There will be a lot of destruction and horror in a zombie apocalypse. There will be death, fires, privations, loss. All of that is going to hurt. You must counterbalance this in your mind by taking what pleasures you can get when you can get them. Enjoy the sunrise, or the taste of the food you can find. Anything you can use to remind yourself that there is still good in the world, that there are still things worth seeing and doing....will keep you going for another day.
4) Self-monitor your emotions. You may find yourself alone for extended periods of time in a zombie apocalypse. Most people are not used to this. You must stay aware of your reactions and the reasons why you're thinking what you're thinking and feeling what you're feeling. Doing that will keep you sane. It's a natural reaction to block things down, and that will work for the short term. Do it for the long term, though, and you're going to have a psychotic break under the strain. You may also be dealing with other people and a wide range of issues will arise. Arguments, grief and pain on the part of other people will weigh you down as well if you don't do something to bolster not only yourself but those other people. Know yourself, and if you don't really know yourself and why you think/do what you do....start learning. This again, is another lesson you don't want to have to learn the hard way when you have all the other considerations of survival on your plate during a catastrophe.
Learning how to face down fear and control it will keep you alive. It will also give you confidence, which other people will be drawn to in a group situation. You may find yourself becoming a leader because you're the one with the cool head while everyone else is a babbling mess. You must have the strength in and of yourself to be able to stay alive first, then you can help other people as well. Eventually, you can help rebuild society.
