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There are numerous stressors with survival, and these stressors cause emotions that are poorly understood, which can be deadly when you're trying to survive. I will briefly go over the psychology of survival, the stresses, what to expect, and how to reduce it.

Stress:

Stress is the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual response to adversity. Stress tells us how important something is, that we are being challenged and that we have uncertainty.

But it also allows us to focus on solving problems, to learn our strengths and weaknesses, to force us to be our best.

Too much stress however, leads to distress. Distress is more stress that we can handle. Distress leads to:

• Difficulty making good decisions and making more mistakes.
• Getting angered easily.
• Forgetting more often.
• Having less energy.
• Entertaining our worst fears.
• Thinking more about death or suicide.
• Becoming confrontational with others.
• Blaming others for our mistakes.
• And being much more careless.

Recognizing and mitigating the signs of stress and distress are incredibly important to limiting its negative outcomes, like injury or death.

Fight or Flight:

Stress can build up quickly into a peak, when we feel we are in grave danger, it can push us into a fight or flight state of mind. We either fight the danger, or fly away from the danger.

• The body releases sugars and fats to provide a quick burst of energy.
• We breathe harder to supply more oxygen to our heart and muscles.
• Our muscles tense up so we can move quickly.
• Blood clotting is more active, so it reduces bleeding from cuts.
• Our eyes, ears and nose are more sensitive to stimuli so we are more aware of our environment.

Fight or flight is a great survival response, but cannot be used often. If we do find ourselves under this condition too frequently, our stress turns into distress. And as explained above, distress could lead to unfavorable outcomes.

Ways to reduce stress, before distress.

• Having a plan.
• Avoid people who stress you out, be around people that have solutions.
• Take control of the environment that you can control.
• Don't do everything, just do the most important things. Make a list, and determine what is a priority, and what you are capable of doing, do it, then relax a little.
• Joking and Laughing. Joking and laughing with your friends is incredibly important to relieve stress. Soldiers often make fun of themselves and their buddies to get a good laugh, especially in conflict. So even in the face of misery, we can find ways to laugh, at the very least smile at something funny.
• Find spirituality. This may not be for everyone, but putting your problems onto a higher power, so you do not have to carry the burden alone, brings a remarkable serenity, thus reducing stress.
• Be willing to compromise with your group, then they will be more willing to compromise with you. Not only will everyone get more things done, yall will also form stronger friendships, trust, plus a feeling that they will watch your back, which makes you feel safer, which decreases stress.

Stay frosty people.

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