# The Other Side of Prepping



## JustAnotherNut (Feb 27, 2017)

We all have 'stuff' to help us survive whatever may come...…..but what about the mental/psychological/spiritual needs? Especially in a time like this of stay at home orders or lockdown where you can't go to church or have much personal interaction with others? Depression has been a problem for many and even hits too close to home here. 

Got word a few days ago my oldest brother is in a hospital in Portland from a self inflicted gun shot wound to his head. Details are very few & far between other than he is breathing on his own, but unresponsive. Nobody is allowed in except his wife and she hasn't been returning calls. Because of age difference (13 years) and family dynamics, we were never really close but blood is the tie that binds. It's been a challenge to deal with this, as I'm already predisposed as bi-polar. Atleast today I was able to spend a few hours with my sister and we're both concerned. 

Sorry......didn't mean to make this about my problems, I realize there is another side to prepping that I don't think has been discussed enough. Those inner demons we face even in normal times that are surfacing now as the nation/world is in chaos......and how much worse it will become.


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## stowlin (Apr 25, 2016)

Very sorry to hear about your brother. Prayers have always been a solution to many of life’s concerns for me, and I feel blessed. I wish that more did, and I do wish for a revival to save America.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

Sorry to hear troubles.

I''say just keep the faith and pray

God is with you all the time. He loves you and your brother.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

+1 Stow


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

We were warned about this type of situation early on. Some were saying more would die from this and drug addiction than from the virus. This is a side effect that no one is releasing the numbers on.

The down side to the warning was we were not given a way to help those in need. Much of the time you have no idea if anyone is having an issue.

What I have done is reach out to my sister in law as much as I can. She can suffer from depression too. Without trying, I got her interested in a new hobby. It started with an average conversation and her eyes lit up over one part of the discussion. This has brightened her life somewhat so she has something new to look forward to.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

The first, and most important, thing about survival is MINDSET. Any reference worth a damn lists it as number one. You must have determination to see yourself through good times and bad, especially bad. You find this in all military survival guides, hiker's handbooks, and basic survival booklets. You have to keep a positive mindset. If you can do that, and keep your calm, you can work through just about anything.

You must find things that keep you focused on a task. Learn a new skill and devote all of your free time to it. Find a new book series and let your mind entertain you. Find a support system of people that are willing to talk to you about difficult things. Write down your plans and goals for the next month, year, decade. Flesh out those plans with real expectations and detail.

I can't pretend to know what you're going through. But take some comfort in knowing that others have dealt with it and won. You can too. It's not easy. Lord knows, some days it's a damned nightmare. But you can get through it. Tell yourself that you *WILL* get through it. If you have any thread of spirituality, pull hard on it. Pray for your brother, your family, and don't forget yourself. Another tenet of survival, "you can't help others if you don't help yourself first".
You have a group here that's willing to send one up on your behalf too.

As Rodney Atkins sings:
_"When you're goin' through hell, keep on movin'.
Face that fire. Walk right through it.
You might get out before the devil even knows you're there."_

Not everybody likes to hear it, but the best thing to do is keep pushing forward.
Good luck, and may God bless you and heal your brother.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

Sorry to hear about your brother. As with all things in life, when it kicks you, kick it back. :tango_face_grin: @Kauboy is absolutely right. Keep moving forward. I've recently suffered a loss and that's the only thing keeping me sane. Move forward.......and talk to yourself a lot. :vs_smile:


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

JustAnotherNut said:


> We all have 'stuff' to help us survive whatever may come...&#8230;..but what about the mental/psychological/spiritual needs? Especially in a time like this of stay at home orders or lockdown where you can't go to church or have much personal interaction with others? Depression has been a problem for many and even hits too close to home here.
> 
> Got word a few days ago my oldest brother is in a hospital in Portland from a self inflicted gun shot wound to his head. Details are very few & far between other than he is breathing on his own, but unresponsive. Nobody is allowed in except his wife and she hasn't been returning calls. Because of age difference (13 years) and family dynamics, we were never really close but blood is the tie that binds. It's been a challenge to deal with this, as I'm already predisposed as bi-polar. Atleast today I was able to spend a few hours with my sister and we're both concerned.
> 
> Sorry......didn't mean to make this about my problems, I realize there is another side to prepping that I don't think has been discussed enough. Those inner demons we face even in normal times that are surfacing now as the nation/world is in chaos......and how much worse it will become.


DANG! Bummer that your brother missed. Think about it, he was trying to end it and now he may spend the rest of his life in agony in the hospital or on some machine keeping him alive. If he thinks his life sucked before...

But enough about that.

In a weird way, I'm diggin' this COVID Bullshit. Traffic is lighter, restaurants are not packed, people are keeping their distance, its a buyers market on some things, ugly people are hiding their hideous faces and when some douchebag mumbles something stupid through his/her mask I ignore them like I didn't hear or understand. Just yesterday I responded to some young lady who was mumbling incoherently through her mask by waving my hands around like I was speaking American Sign Language. She apologized and moved along. Plus fewer and fewer people attempt to shake my hand which I have thought was a really stupid greeting anyway.

Embrace this stupidity!


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

Have to agree with the ole slipster. This social distancing has been a blessing in some ways. Not all of us need justification or acceptance in our daily lives whether through social media or interaction with others.


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

Life is tough. Focusing on what is wrong and not giving your problems to God who is greater than all of our problems put together is a recipe for disaster. Everyone gets tough problems in life. Some just cannot deal with it. Sad. But as previously said life goes on and we must too even when it seems impossible.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

You mentioned not being able to go to church....

like prepping food for times of crisis - we need to prep spiritual food, wisdom, knowledge
Fellowship with Jesus is 24/7 not just sunday.
Also like prepping we have to go from being taught to being teachers and part of being teachers is KNOWING and APPLYING truths

I am sorry about what happened with your brother.. I can not pretend or even understand how somebody does that or what demons could push a person in that direction

When it comes to getting through hard times, I think of the movie True Grit where she is snake bit and he rides with her to get to a doctor - day and night without sleep until he rides the horse to death, shots the horse so it does not suffer anymore then picks her up and carries her until he can go no further then shots his pistol in the air to get attention for help
>>We keep going, bone tired, worn out, cold, hungry, sore, wet.... one foot in front of another<<

Keep your chin up, your bible open, and take care of your friends

the song playing in the background is Leaning on the everlasting arms


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

I lost a brother 12 years younger than me to suicide, I did get over it after a while.

younger brother who is a year younger than the one gone had a harder time with it.

Even as a doctor, he could not detach himself completely like he does for his patients.

It is 16 years now and the pain is long gone for me, there is an emptiness, but the memories still exist.

Hard to say, but Slippy is right.


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## JustAnotherNut (Feb 27, 2017)

Thank you all for the support. As for my brother, I do agree with @Slippy and why I didn't ask for prayers for his recovery. That would be worse than anything.

As to depression and spirituality. I am a God fearing woman and pray always and read the Good Book, It's what helps me thru much of my own psychosis. My personal thought on church, is my daily walk in life.....not in a building where I see much fakery.

Yes, I know I need to keep focused and moving forward and most days do just that. I have been successful managing my own problem by being aware enough of precursors to recognize when cycling is coming on, so I can make necessary adjustments to lessen it's impact.

Winter time (or being cooped up) can be difficult to 'work out' problems so this Covid & riots and whatnot of the past few months has given purpose to my preps & skills and in that way has been a positive reinforcement to what I do, in a weird mixed up way. My mind is geared for action and my troubles come in the quiet moments, the waiting, wondering, reflecting.

I won't even begin to discuss what events have shaped my life or that have been the cause of my bi-polar, but it's safe to say in pure Rocky fashion, I'll take the hits until I'm down...&#8230;.then I'll get angry. Cold blooded, calculated with tunnel vision focused on the 'prize' whatever that may be. I never give up and I never give in, when it's important to me. Nuff said. I know I will be ok.


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

Maine-Marine said:


> You mentioned not being able to go to church....
> 
> like prepping food for times of crisis - we need to prep spiritual food, wisdom, knowledge
> Fellowship with Jesus is 24/7 not just sunday.
> ...


Have you seen the original with John Wayne? He's my fave. Saw it on Nantucket Island back in the '70s....:tango_face_smile: Loved the Book, too. I read it back when I was a young girl and thought Mattie Ross was the bomb!



> "I said, "That is my father." I stood there looking at him. What a waste! Tom Chaney would pay for this! I would not rest easy until that Louisiana cur was roasting and screaming in hell!"


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

@JustAnotherNut prayers for your brother tonight.

And unfortunately I know a thing or two about bp. "Family curse", as my mom has called it...It can be a very seasonal thing. For some reason the change of seasons seems to aggravate this disorder. Hopefully now that summer is here you'll be feeling better soon!


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

@JustAnotherNut, hope you don't mind. Off topic.












> Mattie Ross (played by Kim Darby) is a headstrong 14-year-old girl who is determined to find her father's killer, Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey). She hires the drunken and slovenly Cogburn to help her track Chaney in a remote expanse of wilderness where outlaws roam freely. They are joined by La Boeuf (Glen Campbell), an arrogant young Texas Ranger who wants to arrest Chaney for the murder of a senator in his home state. The trio eventually learns that the killer is riding with a gang led by Ned Pepper (Robert Duvall). During an unexpected encounter, Ross wounds Chaney but is captured by Pepper's gang. Cogburn and La Boeuf come to her rescue, and, in perhaps the film's most-memorable scene, Cogburn charges the bandits, holding the horse's reins between his teeth while wielding a pistol in one hand and a rifle in the other. He kills several of the outlaws, but his horse is shot and collapses, trapping the lawman. La Boeuf saves him from certain death by shooting Pepper but is then mortally wounded by Chaney, who in turn is shot and killed by Cogburn. During the rescue, Ross is bitten by a rattlesnake after falling into a pit, and Cogburn races against time in a successful attempt to save her life.


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## Old SF Guy (Dec 15, 2013)

Humans are social creatures these days....full of hubris and inflated self worth... its an addiction..... especially when you eliminate the penalty for being a stupid twit or getting your ass beat for what you said as a consequence.

Whats missing is accountability.... but anyways...people tend to think with despair about becoming less popular, less sociable, less accepted....so they get more distressed.

they forget that life is about what they have in front of them at each moment.....not reading about whats in front of someone else. Sorry about your brother....


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## JustAnotherNut (Feb 27, 2017)

Annie said:


> @JustAnotherNut prayers for your brother tonight.
> 
> And unfortunately I know a thing or two about bp. "Family curse", as my mom has called it...It can be a very seasonal thing. For some reason the change of seasons seems to aggravate this disorder. Hopefully now that summer is here you'll be feeling better soon!


yes I agree to the seasonal thing and it may be atleast in part due to weather limiting activities. Vitamin D (sunshine) helps a lot too


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## JustAnotherNut (Feb 27, 2017)

Annie said:


> @JustAnotherNut, hope you don't mind. Off topic.


not at all


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## patrioteer (May 21, 2018)

I am a Christian, husband, father of 5, police officer, constitutional conservative, prepper, gun activist, and a man. Rest assure there is a lot of stress in my life and a whole lot a proverbial weapons aimed in my direction. The moment I feel any of it I fall back on several bible versus. The easiest to remember and recite out loud is this one - Isaiah 26:5 God keeps in perfect peace all who's eyes are fixed on him. The more I say it, the more I hear it. The more I hear it, the more I believe it. The more I believe it, the more I know it to be absolute truth. And then the troubles of my life and the world all seem pretty small to me.


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## Robie (Jun 2, 2016)

Though I don't have TV service but am able to stream YouTube and have Prime, I watched a season of "Alone", where a bunch of people are left off at different locations on Vancouver Island. Last man/woman standing wins.

Anyway, knowing full well this was "Hollywood-ized" I found it entertaining enough to keep it on while I did other things.

It was pretty apparent (to me anyway) the chap that was going to win had a couple of things going for him. First, he found a great shelter early on. 2nd, he knew what he could eat and couldn't eat and did well in catching fish. Third, and it turned out to be the most important thing...and the reason he won was...his mental state during all of this. Of the last 3 survivors, he had his mental game going. The other two did well with everything but broke down emotionally and that was the reason they called it quits.
Yup, the other side of prepping.

Thankfully, I'm a bit of a hermit and never minded being alone.


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## NotTooProudToHide (Nov 3, 2013)

Its a sad but a far more common situation that's popping up every where. The scary thing is that things really haven't gotten bad yet. You couldn't go drink in bars or eat in restaurants but you could go to the liquor store and buy beer/liquor as well as order delivery or takeout from restaurants. You really where never restricted from going to Walmart, Home Depot, or any other major retail stores and at least around here you where never restricted to going to parks/lakes although playgrounds where closed. I hope I'm wrong but I see another attempted lock down coming. Notice I said attempted because it won't work, people are sick of it and with current circumstances it may lead to more riots. Buckle down it could be a bad winter guys


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## JustAnotherNut (Feb 27, 2017)

NotTooProudToHide said:


> Its a sad but a far more common situation that's popping up every where. The scary thing is that things really haven't gotten bad yet. You couldn't go drink in bars or eat in restaurants but you could go to the liquor store and buy beer/liquor as well as order delivery or takeout from restaurants. You really where never restricted from going to Walmart, Home Depot, or any other major retail stores and at least around here you where never restricted to going to parks/lakes although playgrounds where closed. I hope I'm wrong but I see another attempted lock down coming. Notice I said attempted because it won't work, people are sick of it and with current circumstances it may lead to more riots. Buckle down it could be a bad winter guys


Closer we get to November, the crazier it will become.....but that may only be the start of it. Depending on how the election pans out, IF we even have one....yes things will get rough.


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## JustAnotherNut (Feb 27, 2017)

As for my brother, finally got ahold of my nephew for something of an update. 

He is breathing on his own and supposedly moving his left thumb and toe when asked and has tried to sit up.....but still hasn't opened his eyes and no coherent speech. Just some garbled mumbling. The hospital was trying to move him out of ICU, but no beds available as of yesterday. 

Still don't know a lot of details of the extent of damage or if any progress made is true or just what the family wants to see. This one is in God's hands.


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## Green Lilly (Nov 8, 2018)

JustAnotherNut said:


> As for my brother, finally got ahold of my nephew for something of an update.
> 
> He is breathing on his own and supposedly moving his left thumb and toe when asked and has tried to sit up.....but still hasn't opened his eyes and no coherent speech. Just some garbled mumbling. The hospital was trying to move him out of ICU, but no beds available as of yesterday.
> 
> Still don't know a lot of details of the extent of damage or if any progress made is true or just what the family wants to see. This one is in God's hands.


Sorry to hear about your brother. Praying he heals in body and mind.

Regarding the point you brought up, I agree it is probably something folks don't talk about as much as it should be. How to prepare body AND mind for these scenarios. I have thought about it often since this all started. I agree with many others stay with God and stay busy.


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## JustAnotherNut (Feb 27, 2017)

Something of an update, if you could call it that......but I've been informed he is now standing and is struggling to talk somewhat (trach tube). I don't know, it's still in Gods hands. 


I, on behalf of his family, thank you all for your prayers & well wishes.


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## paulag1955 (Dec 15, 2019)

Nut, I'm so sorry to hear about your brother. I'll be praying for him and your family.


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