Mental Health for prepping.

[jansman]

…indeed,not just prepping,but life in general. Us Preppers talk about tourniquet,first aid,nuclear contamination etc.etc.etc. But what about Mental Health? (MH)

I am,as many here know,terminally ill. No more to say. Right now I am physically well,and my poorly brain is ok! During my last six weeks of radical treatment I have had a poorly mind at times. Damned near depressed in fact! I can get counsel if I wish,but right now I am pretty darned chilled. In fact this year I was going to semi retire. Right now ,that is exactly how I am thinking of life! Good Mental Health is more valuable than absolutely anything.

After divorce,our youngest daughter was extremely depressed. She cool now though. My late step dad,upon finding he was terminally ill ,literally gave up. His Mental Health crashed. My best friend has suffered for years. It’s out there.

Thankfully these days,such discussions are socially accepted. That’s good.

My last8 months or so have made ME very aware of how important good MH is. How important it is. We can equip ourselves with heaven knows what, but if you ain’t thinking’ straight,you ain’t good.

I do hope our members here are in the positive boat with Mental Health right now.

[Arzosah]

Couldn't agree more about how important it is, jansman, yes. It's such a big topic, it can be quite daunting to approach it, but its crucial.

There's types of mental health: after some kind of trauma - there might be a dip, or it might be a full-blown crisis, that goes on indefinitely without help. And even with help, it leaves a mark. The trauma might be repressed from childhood (I've worked with children caught in war zones) or as an adult - a victim of crime, a soldier, or caught up in a bad traffic accident.

Chemical imbalance - I think there's lots of research still to be done on this one, but it can be about something genetic - inability to produce a hormone, for instance - or nutritional - constant lack of vitamin D, for instance (that's been jumped on by the wellness industry, but check out what NIH, NHS and webmd have to say). Over consumption of legal/illegal drugs can also produce a chemical imbalance in the body that produces emotional problems.

Treatment - several people here know that I was a counsellor and therapist before I retired. So let me put this out there: the fact that there are *so* many types of treatment out there to aid mental health means that *one* of them isn't "the right one for everyone". It will vary, though most children will be offered play therapy, for example.

Without treatment? Most people survive - but they live their lives at considerably below their potential, which is a shame. But some people don't survive - they commit suicide, and suicide-by-cop and suicide-by-train are known to exist. People who are suffering that badly can also turn it the other way round, and commit murder.

It's something preppers need to watch out for in themselves, and in others - as the long slow descent continues, its going to get harder and harder to cope, in all probability, and mental health problems can get in the way, badly.

[Vitamin c]

My life has changed completely regarding health ,when I was told their is no cure I left the specialist nurse and that was it no help or counselling.
At first I was all positive and full of stoic joy accepted my fate .... it didn't last iv done all I need to ,will , funeral ect and now I just wait evey time I feel odd or not myself I think is this it today now .
It's very hard to cope with what's the point of making plans for the future when you just don't know how long you have .
Jansman your circumstances are different to mine you have a good idea how long you have ,I don't it could be tomorrow or another 10 years just don't know.
My mental health is up and down ,I sort of know what to look out for ,glad summer arriving winter is so gloomy .

[jansman]

My life has changed completely regarding health ,when I was told their is no cure I left the specialist nurse and that was it no help or counselling.
At first I was all positive and full of stoic joy accepted my fate .... it didn't last iv done all I need to ,will , funeral ect and now I just wait evey time I feel odd or not myself I think is this it today now .
It's very hard to cope with what's the point of making plans for the future when you just don't know how long you have .
Jansman your circumstances are different to mine you have a good idea how long you have ,I don't it could be tomorrow or another 10 years just don't know.
My mental health is up and down ,I sort of know what to look out for ,glad summer arriving winter is so gloomy .

It’s interesting,Vitamin C . I totally understand your situation. Fortunately or unfortunately I am aware of my life limit. Although I have been given a ‘standard’ figure - 18 month’s maximum apparently- it isn’t 100%. Some carry on with this complaint for up to five or so years. As I feel well physically,that will do! That helps my mental health enormously. I have to keep working at it though. I won’t let it beat me ( my mind) I will fight! Got to! Every day is a blessing that I adore.

I will get down days. We all do . As long as the physical side is ok though,the mental side will be for me. If the worst occurs,my MH will have to be reassessed.

Good luck Vitamin C.

[Vitamin c]

thank you

[Arzosah]

The very best of luck from me too, to both of you.

One point you both made is that things change, and mental health changes as well, at the same time or independently - like vit c says, summer is better, winter is hard. The illness or condition may well be the same, but things *feel* different. Feelings matter.

Making plans under a terminal diagnosis must be *so* hard. I mean, yes, its where we're all bound, but to have conversations about it with medical providers, and have the figures bandied about at you ... that's unimaginably tough. I have the odd wobble about approaching mortality, being in my late 60s now, and about living as fully as possible too.

Kudos to both of you.

[Zedsdead]

I am aware of a few chinks in my MH armour, the winter as mentioned is considerably harder than summer. Also I find not drinking alcohol makes a vast difference in how my mind is! Even if I just have a couple, it knocks me back in the head!

[GillyBee]

All the best to you; Jansman & VitC. You are both facing a very tough situation and doing the best you can with where you are AT.

In our house we have had a good few battles with mental health over the years. I think the physical/nutritional component mentioned earleir is something that is often overlooked. It can improve things dramatically if attended to. It is also something that may make SHTF harder to handle without attention.

We keep quite a lot of vitamins in the food storage in case we ever find ourselves on a subsistence diet as a result of our personal experiences.

I had post natal depression problems after my son was born. I thankfully found some good nutritional advice. The improvement after 3 days of high dose multivits was dramatic. Both sons and Mr Gillybee have intermittent MH problems that are worse if they eat badly so this is an ongoing topic for us.

I guess what I am trying to say is "Ensure you put some multivits in your storage. Your head may thank you if SHTF."

[Kiwififer]

I’m a community based MH recovery worker, I’ve worked in social care for 32 years now.

It’s always been the Cinderella service, mental health is something we tend not to discuss in this country and if we do, it has been of the ‘Bonkers Bruno’ stuff although it is getting much better. If only going for a walk could cure folk’s problems eh?

One in five will experience a MH problem in their lives in Scotland, I suspect that’s universal across the border. It’s much more common than folk think, we are making strides up here in terms of treatment orders (you can discuss with your doctor/CPN etc about kind of treatment you would like when you become unwell if it’s a long term condition like schizophrenia) but we can all do more.

I have a mental checklist of what to do if I am feeling stressed or have a bit of general ‘scunneredness’ with life but it might not work for everyone. I play golf, switch the phone off and head off with a mate up north (we play Strathtay at Aberfeldy if anyone is interested). I go for a bath and I often play a computer game which is a strategy time sink (Panzer Corps) which seems to work. But that’s me, you have to find out what works for you and put your tools in your own MH toolkit.

To Jansman, I send my best wishes. It puts all our wee squabbles into perspective when something like this happens

[Mortblanc]

This is the most depressing thread I have read since they lifted COVID restrictions!