Tips to Keep Your Mental Fortitude When in a Crisis

When you are in a crisis situation your level of mental toughness is one of the key indicators to how well you’ll endure a stressful situation. Often times in a crisis it’s our mind that defeats us before other factors creep in. Have you ever watched the show Alone? On this show, there are professional survival list that try and stay in the Alaskan wilderness for as long as possible. “Winners” often only stay afloat between 30 and 60 days, with many contestants tapping out due to sickness or to mental anguish.

Mental stressors can break anyone down no matter your prepper skill level, so knowing how to combat stress and regain your mental focus can equal life or death in a survival situation. Imagine the stress of everyday life and how that makes your feel - then imagine that stress multiplied due to a traumatic event. The stress of survival or a large-scale emergency can really be too much for the average person to handle.

Stress can affect each of us in different ways, but you will usually notice physical symptoms like a rapid heartbeat, nausea, excessive sweating, and dizziness. Stress can leave you irritable or angry; and you may feel a heightened level of awareness that makes you jumpy.

Long term stress can have negative consequences for your sleep and overall health, making it hard to focus on the preparedness needs of your family. Extreme stress over extended time can lead to a depressive overall state and you will likely find it hard to cope with other stressors that enter your day, compounding into a dangerous situation quickly.

Prayer or Meditation

You must keep your head in order to make rational decisions. A crisis may not seem like the right time to pause and pray (or meditate), but it is actually the perfect tool to regain your thinking and calm you quickly. A prayer [meditation] can take only a few seconds to complete. As with all of the stress-reduction techniques in this list, prayer [meditation] is most effective when you practice your methods regularly and instinctively know what you’re doing.

Visualization

This destressing method is similar to meditation, but your focus is on visualizing peaceful or comforting thoughts, such as imagining a beautiful beach landscape or remembering your favorite pet. Visualization can also be used to focus your mind on desired goals. This technique works because your mind is a powerful tool that can change how you encounter your reality - by actively focusing on the “glass is half full” your mind will be calmed and more receptive to positive opportunities already in your path.

Deep Breathing

Deep breathing is a calming tip that everyone can try. Breathe is essential to how our body functions and keeping your mind centered through stressful situations. Deep breathing can help with mental and physical pain and help you to feel refreshed after only a few deep breaths. Practice slowing your breathes by using counting: build up to an inhale/exhale count of ten to strengthen your capacity and control. Inhale through your nose and breath out through your mouth. Try a yoga breathing flow to build your long-term stress resilience.

Prepping

Often times people are stressed because they feel they are losing control of a situation. A survival emergency is just that - unpredictable and often an uncomfortable change. Prepping can help you gain a feeling of control, which in turn leaves your mental capacity for other crisis tasks. For example, if you have prepared yourself by taking a first aid course, then you will be less stressed and know proactive actions to take when a medical emergency does arise. The same is true for prepping your food security needs, planning a bug out route and having your bug out bag ready to go. There are many relevant skills that you can learn now so that you feel more prepared when SHTF.

Lean on Your Circle

Before a crisis is when you should have a solid circle of your people - your tribe - that you can always depend on, at least as a listening ear. By talking through a crisis or sharing survival experience, emotions can be reduced and calmed. Humans are social creatures and we need each other in times of peace and in times of crisis.

Exercise

While this tip is not an on the spot destressor, physical exertion is a great way to build physical and mental resistance to stress. By regularly motivating yourself, pushing through barriers; your mind and body learn to be tough and endure stresses successfully. Exercise gives you an outlet for excess energy too. Choose activities that you enjoy, ideally. If you’re in a crisis situation, you may need to find new activities that are low-space or quiet - depending on your emergency. Whatever you do, keep your body moving to keep your mind uncluttered.

Being mentally tough is all about being prepared and having a quick tool kit when a crisis hits. As the country song says by Rodney Atkins: “when you’re going through hell keep on going, don’t slow down if you’re scared don’t show it… face that fire, walk right through it.” You might be surprised that you have the strength to make it through!