Maintaining Mental Function and staving off insanity post SHTF

[Scythe13]

Okay, I didn't know what section to put this in, but since it's a part of life post SHTF, and you need to be functioning properly post Poop-day to rebuild society, then it's going on this section.

First off, many of my recent posts have been about mental functioning, and emotional wellbeing, post SHTF. There is a simple reason behind this, because it's a HUGELY overlooked part of prepping. Clearing dead bodies, and the alike, will take it's toll on a person. So, I've opted to look at past example of situations where people have been either isolated, or are currently isolated, or living in desolation.

First off, dealing with silence.

Have you ever sat in a totally silent room, and just heard so much noise? Well, logically, the answer is no. But if you have ever been in that situation, you'll understand what I mean about 'screaming silence'. Ever been in a totally black room, and suddenly lost your balance unexpectedly? Sensory deprivation. There's a reason it's used as torture! It's unlikely that you'll have to deal with this, thanks to birds and sunlight, but as an example of mental function issues, let's look at this.

People in a totally silent and dark room, have been reported to hallucinate. WTF?!?! How can you see things and hear stuff in the silent dark?!?! Well, as if by magic, your head plays tricks with you. I'm not going into the deep science of it all, as this is just an example, but you get the basic idea.

When a person is deprived of something, the mind reacts.

Okay, so, post SHTF, you're bugging in. Guess what? Those curtains are staying closed. No lights allowed to be on in the night, or in the day. No candles either. What, you dare to make noise? Really? Nope, didn't think so. This will pretty much mean one thing, you'll be enjoying the pleasures of prison style 'solitary confinement'. Damn, that sucks! Well, that's the fun of bugging in.

Since prisons use this technique as punishment, to take away 'the spirit' of a man (or woman), then it looks like we need to start checking out those whom are unaffected by a stint in the prisons 'quiet rooms'.

Studying people like Charles Bronson (not the actor) you'll start to realise he uses games to pass his time. He paces up and down the cells, then every few paces, drops and does press ups. He will take off a button from his clothing, throw it behind him, then search around in the dark to find it. When he finds it, he'll do press-ups and squats. Other prisoners have reported similar things to help keep their brains active during time in solitary. The one thing ALL of them report doing, is exercise.

Okay, so a routine of exercise is one way to stay mentally alert, right? WRONG!!! It's the routine that people use, that keeps them in check. Everything can change, a different prison, a different cell, but keeping the same routine allows prisoners to better cope, mentally, with their situation.

Right, let's say things have changed a little. You're not bugging in, you're bugging out, alone. Time for another kind of deprivation. Human contact.

We've probably all seen Tom Hanks in Castaway. Awesome film. In that film, he creates an artificial 'person' called Wilson. If you've not seen the film, Wilson is actually a Wilson (company brand) volley ball. He totally anthropomorphises this ball, to the point where 'they argue' (seriously, just watch the film and you'll get what I mean). This is apparently VITAL for a person living alone. Human contact helps in so many ways (unless you're BP).

If you do not have contact with an anthropomorphic entity, you can lose the ability to speak. Once you lose that, your higher functioning can greatly reduce. Check google if you don't believe it.

Even the guy that was genuinely stranded on a desert island (his name eludes me at the moment, but he had an old rifle, and ended up taking it apart to make tools out of it, and the beach was invaded by seals, so he had to move inland...if you know who I'm on about, feel free to post his name) tamed cats for company. He needed that company, and says the cats did much more than just keep the rats away. They kept him sane.

But guess what he did, that helped him cope with the solitary confinement!?!? Yep, he kept to a routine.

What we should all be looking at, is getting into a routine as quickly as possible, for the first few days, if not weeks (I'm thinking as long as a month) if we are to work at our optimal level. Not only will this routine help stave off going nutty, but it will also help relieve boredom and idle behaviour.

What's more, if you base your routine around exercises, you'll also benefit from that too. Whether it's 10 mins of stretching in the morning, followed by 100 press ups, or a full on workout, the principles are the same. Build a routine, and work with it. On an island, the routine included collect water, 2 coconuts, feed cats, check signal fire areas, etc. A routine will make sure the things that you know you'll need to do, will get done.

Sit around, get bored, and don't do chores, and pretty quickly, you're in a world of hurt.

For some real fun, check out the effects of cabin fever. Oh, and some captain's cabins were HUGE....and look at your flat/house, could you stay sane in there for 2 months, while the die off is going on? Do you have enough books, and the alike to stay entertained? Do you have an effective enough routine to keep you busy, and ward off idle time.

Idle time is your enemy, just as much as a crazy man is. Idle time is when you dwell on the crap that's happened, on the bodies you buried, etc.

Stay busy, get into a routine, stay entertained, and stay sane. There is no guarantee this will work, but it's the same with antibiotics. There is no guarantee they'll cure your illness, but there's a damn good change you'll pull through, thanks to them.

If you truly believe you'll have plenty to do, 24/7, turn off all your power, shut your curtains (you need your house blacked out) and remain totally silent. Okay, now, turn off the computer, and get everything done silently.

Totally forgot to mention, smells of cooked food can travel. Best eat cold Mac-Cheese. Poop, and wee silently too. A flush would be LOUD!!! Wow, that sounds like a fun night out hu?

[Mortblanc]

Or you can find a group to work with.

Establish some security, take turns getting some rest, light a candle and sit and chat, plan, plot and complain, play some cards or chess.

Just don't make too much noise, the lone wolves think they are the only ones that survived. Be a pity to burst their bubble.

[Highlander]

Darkness and silence will not be a problem for anyone up here, when its dark here, its total dark, only the stars for company, no street lights, the nearest lights we see are four miles away,.. and its the same with silence, no traffic after about 6pm, and very few before then.

.....but I agree, it takes some getting used to, it shouldn't be taken for granted, we have friends who visit from time to time, who simply cant sleep at night, because it is too dark and silent, those types of people would find life very hard, and probably very scary for a time after shtf

As for hallucinating, well when the mind has nothing to listen to and the eyes have nothing to focus on, then the mind does play tricks on you, ask any soldier who has done a 4am stag in the middle of a wood,... not sure if you would call it hallucinating, but you sure can see things that's not often there...lol

[Scythe13]

(19 July 2013, 06:21)Mortblanc Wrote: Or you can find a group to work with.

Establish some security, take turns getting some rest, light a candle and sit and chat, plan, plot and complain, play some cards or chess.

Just don't make too much noise, the lone wolves think they are the only ones that survived. Be a pity to burst their bubble.

Totally agree. But even in groups, building a routine is important to maintain discipline. I was intending this post for the lone wolf, or the couple whom are unlucky enough to be trapped 'alone' for a long period of time.

[Sunna]

thank you i enjoyed reading that , food for thought

[bigpaul]

most people will have the screaming habdabs post shtf because it will be so quiet! with no traffic, no aeroplanes it will be so quiet you will hear a pin drop, most people wont be able to stand it...those people that is that need other people around them, the poor deluded fools!!

---

its not post shtf or wrol that will be the problem, it will be other people and how they act post collapse that will be the problem. groups aren't necessarily the answer especially groups of strangers!

[MCavity]

Surley most of us will have families / pets etc to look after anyway. The situations we find ourselves in will grow organicaly as they happen depending on location, timelines, threats etc etc. With the UKs population nearing 70 mil its going to get noiser before it goes quiet.

I do agree with S13 but I think its a while down the road (IMO).

[bigpaul]

personally I prefer silence, at the moment a couple are having a "domestic" over the back.....having to chose between that and silence I know which I prefer!

[SecretPrepper]

Ever tried meditation? might help in these situations

[Mortblanc]

99% of my existence is spent with only the sound of farm equipment and livestock in the distance breaking the quiet. At the moment I can hear a tractor in the field mowing hay. Occasionally I can hear a train passing two miles in the distance after dark.

The chickens do raise a ruckus on occasion and I have one hen that feels she should have the run of the house and comes to the door to tell me about it when it crosses her mind.

In the evenings when the temps cool a bit the neighbors come out to take their constitutionals/walk their dogs and often stop and chat as they pass. I know them and their hounds and on occasion the dogs will slip their leashes or jump their fences and they come to see me. I will look up and one will be standing at the door giving a low "woof" to attract my attention and get a pat on the head and a conversation.

I am blessed with good kids in my neighborhood. They are country kids, riding their bikes down to the lake to fish and waving as they pass. When they catch something they stop and show off their skill. I have become the bike mechanic of the neighborhood and guide them through maintenance and repairs. Occasionally I hire them for odd jobs and the 12 year old girl around the bend serves as watchdog and security when I am traveling. She comes down and feeds the chickens when I am gone for long stretches.

We are country people and we do things and build things and we yell for help when we need an extra pair of hands. We lend tools and swap advice and I know what gauge shotgun shells and pistol cartridges both my neighbors use. I also know that our community will expand and not contract SHTF, due to extended families arriving, seeking refuge. They are other young people that grew up in this road and come back on weekends to "visit the folks" and I know them by name, know their kids too.

I do not consider them an intrusion. I consider them help. Many of those young adults are working their way through school on veterans benefits, meaning they already have 2-3 years in combat and their skills et is still fresh. And in our modern and progressive military both make and female are combat trained.

All in all, I do not expect to be lonely SHTF. I strongly anticipate more contact than I have now, as people drop by to coordinate security and plan work, and the kids stop by to trade fish hooks for work in the garden and get their bikes fixed.

Of course, as the retired teacher on the road I also have the library. Boredom leads to reading and reading leads to learning. I imagine my Mother Earth News and homesteading magazines will be scattered all over the community and my textbooks will be traded from house too house as the kids in each family grow into new subject needs and new interests.

And there will be more kids. After 30 days, when the birth control pills are gone, dark comes early and can not be extended artificially, TV is replaced by talking in the darkness while listening to the crickets chirp and the owls hoot. There will be more kids, at least there will be in the country.

I can see why that picture might be terrifying to someone hiding alone in a cellar in the city, with no one to care if they live or die, wondering what that scampering sound in the darkness might be.