Mental Illness--how the hell do they expect to make it? (Anxiety, Rage, Bi-polar, Ect)

reply to post by sirnukeem


You are insane if you really believe that and are MORE dangerous that OP's friend. It is when people think they have the authority and knowledge to handle situation by killing others that can cause the real harm. I hope you don't breed. Ya dig?

~LR

As already noted many times in this thread, many such people will have severe difficulties. However, I agree that certain personality types that can't handle the current world might do better and even thrive in a SHTF scenario.

Many neuroses are caused or exacerbated, at least in part, by inablity to cope with a complex world. Some folks might breathe easier in a world where the needs are simpler. Where survival is more of a physical matter than a complex nightmare of paperwork and hierarchy. Just a thought.

reply to post by XxNightAngelusxX


Actually you raise an interesting point. And I actually have a theory on it. And this is no joke. It goes like this....

These types of people will actually get better in that environment. Here's why. First Dr's won't be around. So they won't be constantly diagnosed or told this or that by Dr's. Pharmasys wont' be around so they wont be able to get the drugs that likely are one of the causes of there problems. And all they'll be able to eat is home grown produce which will be organic so they'll have clean nutritious food.

So they'll be away from bad influences (dr's), off the poison that is killing them and keeping them sick, and eating nutritious food again. So all that in total they'll likely get better not worse.

I know that sounds strange but it's true.

Don't let the fear monger's get to you. They are afraid for themselves, already they are of no use to you or anyone else. In such a wild scenario that you and others are putting forth, there will be people like me you will step forward and help people in need. Our society may be in trouble, but when big tragedy strikes people DO ban together. There is enough drugs in drug stores to last for months, unless of course you have some rare condition. By then people like me will have restored enough order to secure a more constant stream of meds. Don't fall for these dooms day scenarios. These people watch WAY to many movies. Our decline will be slow and painful, not a quick drop into hell.

Peace.

reply to post by XxNightAngelusxX


Yeah, it's definitely disconcerting; in fact, I know of people with Paranoid Personality Disorder (PPD) & Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) that are stockpiling for the downfall of civilization. I can't help being concerned about their mental status, not to mention, what they're going to do with all that stuff when, when the sh!t fails to hit the fan.

I am a cult survivor, and I have had severe issues with anxiety, depression, self mutilation. etc for many years now. My medications allow me to be "Normal" once again. A large part of my prepping plans include medications. I have worked it out that I have extra meds every month that I can put aside in case of emergency. An example is being prescribed 40mg of a pill, and only taking 20mg on a daily basis. This has allowed me to have over a year's worth of meds that I can take if for some reason I am not able to get them anymore. I have done the same for my heart meds, anxiety meds, etc. I make sure too that I rotate all of my meds so that they stay fresh for as long as possible.

If the blankety-blank never hits the fan, no loss, and I can always just throw them away, but in the meantime it gives me peace of mind that I have them if I need them.

Being Bi-polar I have considered how I might fend in a SHTF scenario. I am not worried. I have lived months in a crazy state and years in a depressed state.

I'm thinking there will be MANY people who will mentally lose it when they lose what they have. These people are likely to be in a worse situation that those of us who have dealt with mental illness on a long term basis when they find out what despair tastes like. I'm thinking the shooter at the Empire State building could be an example. Look around at these husband/wives who kill their families and then themselves. That is what despair can do. The devils best tools are despair and feeling hopeless.

Whether or not you like Gerald Celente, he is right. "When people lose everything, they lose it."

The crazy club is going to get a whole lot bigger folks.

Originally posted by r2d246

These types of people will actually get better in that environment. Here's why. First Dr's won't be around. So they won't be constantly diagnosed or told this or that by Dr's. Pharmasys wont' be around so they wont be able to get the drugs that likely are one of the causes of there problems. And all they'll be able to eat is home grown produce which will be organic so they'll have clean nutritious food.

That is one point of view. heres another. Some people who have been diagnosed with mental or other disorders have had trouble with conspiracies, thinking they are being followed, Religion, doomsday etc. Those are the people who will be ready if anything was to happen. They have prepared for it to a certain degree in their minds. People who have literally lost their marbles etc, will not. They won't know what the hell is going on. There are so many different elements to mental disorder. Some derive from the very things some research here on ATS. I bet some people on ATS do have some sort of mental illness, but they are much more prepared for any scenario compared to your common, normal couch potato watching American Idol or something...

A lot of people with mental disorders are very intelligent people. They just need to find a way to decipher the information they are taking in properly. I know from experience and I have also learnt from it in other ways also.

reply to post by Hefficide


Heff, thank you so much for your response. The thread was really starting to irritate me, until I read your rational answer. I, too, have BPD and the PTSD, and I'll do just fine, thank you very much. I'll have to watch my sleep, and might grow myself some medicinal herbs, but I think that in some ways those of us with mental illness issues have the advantage. We know what is wrong with us, and what to do to fix it. If we've survived this far, we've been in a SHTF scenario for years already, and we're less likely to react to extreme circumstances.

Have to share a joke with you: "I hate being bipolar. It's awesome!"

Not exactly a solid portrayal of our circumstances, but funny all the same (I think).

reply to post by sad_eyed_lady


In a time of major disaster, catastrophe, SHTF, where everyone if affected, yes. People will lose their sh!t and not only the ones who already carried the mental label.

i hate to point out the obvious to all those who have a mental illness, and claim that their gonna make it in a shtf scenario.
having a knowledge of caring for the mentally ill, and seeing the effect of not taking not medication for long periods of time. my mother, father and myself, have taken care of a aunt and uncle for the better part of fifty years.
both have been diagnosed to be or have, bipolar, depression, and ananxiety disorder, and other disorders that came as a result of medications and not taken them as prescribed. not going into the others as i have not seen any mentioned yet.

on good days everything goes fine, no problems. they go about their lives as if you or me. on bad days or when there is a change in meds or not taking of meds, you can see the changes and know a bad period is going to start. this period can last just a few days or months. i have seen my aunt go as long as years, even under the meds. now i want you to understand, the conditions they lived in were not like living in the ritz, but all needs were meet and you can say that they kinda lived a fat life. got most everything they wanted within their and our means and reason. they had no reason to worry and no reason for depression to set in. now i know there are other factors for these illnesses, i use these as examples.

i want you to honestly think about it. if your illness is bad enough for you to go and see a doctor, be diagnosed with a disorder,and have to take medication daily or as needed now in a relatively comfortable lifestyle. what is it gonna be like in a dog eat dog world after the shtf ?

sure you might be able to maintain for a little while, and if you take medication on a as needed basis. but after a prolong struggle to survive, where it's gonna be, i think it safe to say very rough, where every day you are constantly worrying about what your gonna eat,where you gonna sleep, are those bad guys coming to take my family's' food and shelter away today, are my wife and kids going to be safe, these are but a few of the things that come to mind. chance are your gonna break and you and your loved ones are gonna be vulnerable.

lets face it the mentally ill are easy pray, just look at the homeless, a majority of them are mentally ill, and many of them fall pray to their own looking for the things they have to survive. or punks and or sick individuals looking to get their jollies beating them up or killing them. then you have those that are institutionalized, that fall pray to staff members or other patients, and a good many of them have family that see them daily.

now the only ones who might make it are the ones who are pure evil sickos that never have seen a doctor and have lived that way all their lives. them or the ones everybody calls bat sh@@ crazy and stays away from.

i hate to say it but i think in a post shtf world the outlook for the mentally looks grim.

if you could not make it in the world we live in now with out meds. what makes you think your gonna make it in a post shtf world.

That's why you should be very careful if you ever go see a DR. The risk is they give you a diagnosis. Which essencially is absolutely no different than a voodoo curse. It's a real. It's a self fulfilling prophesy. Because they're a smart authority figure that you've been trained to believe anythign they say is gosple truth. So if they give you an opinion many will believe it and now you actually will have a decease or some condition or whatever. The old saying goes "as a man thinketh in his heart so is he". So be careful when going to the DR. I only see dr's for trama care, such as a broken arm. That's the advice of a world renoun dr who wrote "confessions of a medial heiratic". So you got tons of people that think they'll be at risk when they end up off there meds. Many will get better at that point. It will be interesting really if it was to happen.

reply to post by r2d246


reading your post reminded me of a christmas at my grandparents house.
my aunt was talking about her doctors and how she was all crazy and stuff.
my grandfather told her, not to worry, everybody in the world is crazy, only deference between her and everybody else is she has papers.

I am Bipolar and a tad bit anxious. I admit when I'm on my lows I make irrational decisions, spend alot of money, and sometimes do things that get myself into trouble. I've been off my meds currently because lack of health insurance, but my family couldn't take me breaking down and crying all the time so my dad put me on his so i can go back on medication.

Honestly I never thought of what would happen or how i would deal if SHTF... Really my downs depend lately my breakdowns have just been alot of crying and panicking and throwing up, and feeling low. If someone attacks me, when im off my meds ive been known to go into instinctive fight back mode. For example my ex threw me to the ground once, so I straight up punched him.... Of course i got the legal problems for it.

Really I think it depends on the person and the mental illness they have, some people with mental illness are extremely intelligent and who knows, their mind just might switch to survival mode.

Now im off to figure out how the hell I'm going to survive. haha AHHH

reply to post by hounddoghowlie


I want you to know I agree with your post. I said I was not worried. What good does worry do? I have managed for years on medications that oft times did more damage than helped. Finally, I am down to one mood stabilizer and N-AC. I don't think living without medication would be easy, but I have been there and done that taking medications that caused an increase in depression. I have been dealing with this for 34 years and know what kind of crazy I have been when my meds got messed up.

I don't expect it to be a picnic, but having spent a big enough chunk of my life with the wrong meds, I know what I am capable of doing. The most violent thing I have done is to throw marshmallows. Thanks to a strong belief in Hell, I will not kill myself. So for me, I will survive or I won't. No sense in worrying about what is beyond my control.

You are absolutely right that people will suffer greatly off their meds and their caregivers will be at wits end. I know suicides will jump for mental and non-mental. I hate to think what the world would be like if people who medicate themselves with cigarettes, alcohol and other things don't have them at there disposal.

Please don't think I am unaware of the potential problem. I don't like being crazy, I am no stranger to it.

Who knows what lovely things the government will have in store for us that do not comply or go bat #te.

My faith is my strength through it all. I keep my sanity by taking one day at a time.

Originally posted by silent thunder
As already noted many times in this thread, many such people will have severe difficulties. However, I agree that certain personality types that can't handle the current world might do better and even thrive in a SHTF scenario.

I couldn't agree more. A more defined yet simple existance/role would prove to be productive for many. In fact, probably millions....if that many people survive a SHTF scenario. I think this goes along the lines if the going gets tough, the tough get going. Even though a person may be on medication, it doesn't mean they're not tough. They may just need the challenge to overcome. Sounds kind of sick in a way....but we all need challenge and for whatever reason, some diversity causes us to step up. I see too many friends and family on anti-depressants that have ideal lives. Yet, they're dependant on these medications. I think that when people had to take care of everything, when their whole day was basically consumed with self preservation, they fared a lot better mentally. As far as diabetes, other physical chronic diseases, it would be best to decrease their hold over a person. But why wait until the SHTF? Many illnesses are curable, do it now.

One of the biggest lies is the saying that goes....

"They got chemical imbalances in the brain, and the meds fix those imbalances".

Well guess what? Everyone on the face of the planet has an imbalanced and ever changing chemical make up of the brain at any given time in there lives! Everyone has imbalances! Does that mean everyone needs meds? Such a scam.

I've got a degree in psychology and have been a survivalist for a while. The psychology of prepping has always interested me and a natural extension of that is mental illness during SHTF.

To those who are saying "if your problem is so bad you need to go to the doctor to live a normal life, your not ganna do well" are forgetting that after a shtf life is NOT normal and you have to live abnormal..

From what i've managed to learn and peice together, Schizophrenia can be a positive adaptation in times of disaster, killing and SHTF. "Schizophrenics are more easily able to switch to violence and not be effected by it" is something along the lines of what I remember being taught. I'm having a hard time finding research backing this right now though

For the other mental disorders, I can think of nothing positive except for the obvious manic phase of bipolar which is canceled by the depressive phase. Some Bipolars report more of just the manic and barely any depressive. ADHD does have positve energy posibilitites which may or may not be helpful, depending on the situation. Anxiety issues are pretty much one of the worst ones to have for something like a SHTF.

So in short, mental illness while debilitating in normal life may not necessarily be as bad during a true shtf, depending on the illness.

From the outside looking in, you may see someone with a Mental Health Disorder as someone who is weak or would be a burden, when in fact it's the exact opposite. They are incredibly strong willed.

You have to understand that most people with Mental Health Disorders have spent the majority of their lives trying to survive one day at a time in this current world, where a lot of people still see them as weak minded malingering outcasts.
Because of this, i would imagine they would be able to adapt to a drastic change a hell of a lot easier than most people. Because they have already adapted from drastic changes to their minds and lives.

In a SHTF scenario, their strength, their will, their day to day survival instincts and their adaptiveness, could very well come in handy. So why do a lot of you think that they would be the first to perish?

You may find that the people with such disorders will be the ones to rise up and be the ones helping the people who have no Mental Health Disorders, who may be running around like headless chickens, freaking out and mourning the loss of the world and life they have become so accustomed to.

reply to post by XxNightAngelusxX


I have a theory that many mental conditions are a by-product of modern life. Of course mental illness is real, I'm not denying that whatsoever, I'm just saying some are brought about by environmental factors such as diet, over-stimulation, unreasonable expectations, media saturation, etc.

I really think that when it gets real, people will find themselves with far more clarity than they have now.

That's not to say people won't get vicious when forced to fend and provide for themselves with limited resources available.