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Part I – Survival Series – Understanding Stress and How to Beat It
Category:As I mentioned in the introduction to this series, there is a psychology involved in survival. In part one; we will discuss stress what it takes mentally to survive in a traumatic situation.
Stress is key to survival and a God given asset. Stress indicates to us what is important. Stress improves our ability to do many things. When it comes to a survival situation, stress is good however; too much stress is a very bad thing.
When stress becomes too much for an individual he or she enters a state known as distress. Distress is extremely life-threatening in a survival situation and absolutely dangerous in any situation.
There are many symptoms of distress. To name a few; loss of memory, thoughts of suicide, angry outbursts, low energy level, constant worrying, above normal frequency of mistakes, withdrawing from others and carelessness. As you can see for yourself, these symptoms can mean failure in your attempt to survive.
Stress is the result of stressors. Stressors are circumstances and mechanisms that cause stress. One stressor or a combination of many can result in stress leading to distress. Below is a list of several stressors.
- Isolation
- Fatigue
- Hunger and Thirst
- Uncertainty and Lack of Control
- Environment
- Injury Illness or Death
It is obvious to anyone could become distressed when experiencing the above stressors. There are many reactions to stressors and stress.
There are many instinctive survival mechanisms that can kick in when one is in a survival situation. The survival mechanisms keep the human alive. A large variety of species die off while the human race survives because of these instinctive survival mechanisms.
Below is a list of major internal reactions that a person will experience in a stressful situation. How we handle these survival mechanisms determine our chances of surviving and staying alive.
- Anxiety
- Fear
- Anger and Frustration
- Loneliness and Boredom
- Depression
- Guilt
The above mechanisms absolutely determine your chance of staying alive. As you can imagine, you can mentally give up before your body shuts down. This is commonly what happens to people who fail to stay alive.
The instinct of survival is common in all humans. Being thrown into a situation that calls for a human to survive is not common. You must embrace this and constantly check yourself fighting off your fear. Do not be afraid of your natural reactions in an unnatural situation.
To be successful in survival, you must prepare yourself. The most important preparation is mental preparation.
Know yourself.
The biggest mistake many soldiers and people make in learning to survive is pretending that they will not have any fear. This is a fatal mistake. Learn to acknowledge fear and manipulate it to work in your favor. The trick to this is to build confidence in the areas that you are strong in and reinforce the areas where you are weak. Again, acknowledge your weaknesses.
Be realistic and honest about the situation.
Some people believe that thinking positive requires stating that something is possible when it is absolutely impossible. This is not the way to overcome your fear or to deal with the situation. This type of behavior is what gets you killed.
Keep your hopes and faults within reason. Again, be honest.
Prepare for the worst. This doesn’t mean believe that the worst will happen. It is easier to take on a bad situation when you acknowledge that it is possible than when you go around like everything is a’okay and refuse to acknowledge or plan for things to get worse.
Be positive.
Be positive about the outcome, not unrealistic. You must believe that you’re going to succeed if you have any hope of succeeding. Sometimes we have to tell ourselves repeatedly that we are going to get through this. Your thoughts, whether they be positive or negative, will influence your chances of survival more than anything.
To remain positive, you must always remind yourself what is at stake. Your life depends on getting through a tough situation. The lives of others may depend on the decisions you make and your attitude.
Train and learn to manage stress.
Training would involve practicing your skills and improving on the skills that you are not very good at or lack completely. I can’t emphasize how important it is to read and learn new skills. Survival training is a never ending education.
Without training, stress will lead to failure. Failure means death or capture.
Stress management is vitally important to survival. Develop techniques such as relaxation skills, assertive skills, time management skills and your ability to control your view of the situation.
To conclude this part of the survival series, just remember that your psychology is the most important aspect of your survival. Know yourself.
~ Cole
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