Reacting to a Survival Situation
HOW WILL YOU REACT TO A WILDERNESS EMERGENCY? The answer to this all
important question is as individual as you are. It’s impossible to predict
exactly how you will react. Don’t feel weak, ashamed, or guilty for hav
ing conflicting feelings! If anything, these responses help illustrate your
humanity, and it’s that humanness that will give you the tools to survive.
It may even help you, in the long run, to break down for a short
time and release destructive emotions. Most grown men (even the macho
ones) will admit to crying at some point during a survival ordeal. And
all of them recognize afterwards that shedding those emotions enabled
them to “give their heads a shake” and pick themselves up, ready to carry
on. Sometimes a good screaming or crying fit is all you need to turn your
dejected mental state into a determined (“enough of this feeling sorry
for myself ”) state.
In fact, these emotions, while initially disconcerting, may actually
motivate you to find a way out of your situation. Some people have been
embarrassed by the mistakes they made that left them in a lifethreatening
situation but used that feeling—and the desire to make up for that mistake
(and possibly to regain their good name)—to get themselves to safety.
Of all the emotions that prove motivational, none is as powerful as
love. With love set squarely in your sights, you will make it through your
ordeal, to see your spouse, children, family, and friends again.
Panic
Panic is a common yet debilitating reaction that affects many, particularly
in the early stages of survival ordeals. Panic can be especially dangerous in
a group setting, since it’s contagious and spreads rapidly.
Physiologically, it can be a motivating force in that it speeds up our
body processes. But panic can also use up incredible amounts of energy,
which is why people invariably feel exhausted after these episodes.
The most common response to panic is to move now and move fast.
So you start thrashing through the bush, running in the sand, or paddling
feverishly up the river hoping to come across something familiar to you.
These are dangerous reactions, however, unless you have to get out of that
spot immediately for safety reasons.
(^46) | Survive!