Mind Over Apocalypse: Navigating Mental Health in the End Times

Hey there, resilient survivors and mental health advocates! Join me in this confident and casual exploration as we delve into the often overlooked aspect of mental health and how it intertwines with the challenges of the apocalypse. From Coping Mechanisms to Community Support, let’s unravel the complexities of maintaining a healthy mind in the face of unprecedented adversity.

1. Coping Mechanisms – Sanity in the Midst of Chaos: Picture the apocalypse as a whirlwind of chaos, and now imagine yourself casually adopting Coping Mechanisms to maintain sanity. It’s the ability to find solace in mindfulness, creative expression, or routines that turns mental health into a cornerstone of resilience in the face of the unknown.

2. The Social Fabric – Weaving Community Support: Envision the Social Fabric – a network of survivors offering mutual support and understanding. Picture yourself casually leaning on others and providing a listening ear in return, creating a supportive community that becomes a crucial component of mental health in the post-apocalyptic world.

3. Mindful Moments – Finding Serenity Amidst Turmoil: Delve into Mindful Moments – brief pauses to center oneself amidst the turmoil of survival. Picture yourself casually embracing mindfulness, whether through meditation, deep breaths, or connecting with nature, as a means to find serenity in the midst of the apocalypse’s challenges.

4. Emotional Resilience – Weathering the Apocalypse’s Emotional Storm: Embrace Emotional Resilience – the ability to weather the emotional storms that the apocalypse brings. Picture yourself casually acknowledging and navigating a spectrum of emotions, understanding that resilience lies in the capacity to adapt and endure through the highs and lows of the post-apocalyptic journey.

5. The Power of Connection – Fostering Meaningful Relationships: Recognize The Power of Connection – forging meaningful relationships as a cornerstone of mental well-being. Picture yourself casually building connections with fellow survivors, recognizing that shared experiences and support networks play a pivotal role in sustaining mental health in challenging times.



6. Psychological Adaptation – Thriving in the New Normal: Consider Psychological Adaptation – the process of adjusting and thriving in the new normal that the apocalypse ushers in. Picture yourself casually adapting to the changed circumstances, recognizing that mental health is not just about survival but also about thriving in the face of adversity.

7. Laughter as Medicine – A Resilient Sense of Humor: Acknowledge Laughter as Medicine – maintaining a resilient sense of humor even in the direst situations. Picture yourself casually finding moments of levity, understanding that humor can be a powerful tool to cope with stress and provide much-needed relief in the face of apocalyptic challenges.

8. Routine and Stability – Anchors in Uncertain Seas: Embrace Routine and Stability – establishing anchors in the uncertain seas of the apocalypse. Picture yourself casually creating daily routines that provide a sense of structure and stability, recognizing the impact of predictability on mental well-being in times of upheaval.

9. Personal Reflection – Navigating the Inner Landscape: Engage in Personal Reflection – navigating the inner landscape of thoughts and emotions. Picture yourself casually taking moments for introspection, fostering self-awareness, and understanding the nuances of your mental state amidst the apocalyptic landscape.

10. Collective Mental Health – A Shared Responsibility: Acknowledge Collective Mental Health – understanding that the mental well-being of the group is a shared responsibility. Picture yourself casually contributing to a supportive environment where open communication and empathy become pillars of maintaining collective mental health in the post-apocalyptic community.

Whether through coping mechanisms, community support, or a resilient sense of humor, the journey towards a healthy mind becomes an integral part of surviving and thriving in the face of unprecedented challenges.

So, fellow mental health navigators, may your strategies be diverse, your connections meaningful, and your resilience unwavering as you embark on the path of maintaining a healthy mind in the aftermath of the apocalypse. Happy navigating!

Likely Apocalypses: World Wide Nuclear War

Let’s expand on some of the likely apocalypses we touched on back in our list of likely apocalypses.

First up in the list of likely apocalypses: World Wide Nuclear War

Nuclear war may be inevitable, but we have been lucky so far. However, we shouldn’t kid ourselves that the end of the cold war has made the threat of the nuclear war an irrelevance. In a lot of ways, things are more dangerous than ever. There are two nuclear powers who refuse to play nicely with each other in Pakistan and India, then there is the newly armed and unpredictable North Korean regime, and a belligerent Russia keen to reassert its power to the world. According to analysts, there is a 5% chance that a nuclear war could happen every decade.

All it takes is for someone to press the detonation button. A single US stealth bomber can carry 16 B83 nuclear bombs. Each of those bombs can produce 75 times the yield of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and a single Trident submarine can destroy over 40 million people. Continue reading “Likely Apocalypses: World Wide Nuclear War”

The girls guide to post-apocalyptic dictatorship.

In the past, I have made a big deal about how in the post apocalypse, I WILL be a benevolent dictator in control of a large, well run compound. Some of you seem to seem to think I might be joking about this.

Oh, no, sugarbuns. I fully intend to be a dictator. I’m already spoiled, petty and quick to anger – dictatorship should be a cinch.

I can’t tell you HOW to build your compound – it requires a combination of charm, talent, leadership abilities, organisation and a basic, borderline sociopathic disrespect for the rights, opinions and feelings of other people that I just don;t think you can learn. But, I can give you some ideas about how to maintain your iron control once you have it. After all, you don’t want to screw up so bad they murder you, do you?

Continue reading “The girls guide to post-apocalyptic dictatorship.”

What you should be afraid of.

Whole psychological theories have been based on what shows up in our horror films. I could go on and on about them, but as I only have an A level in Psychology, I’m sure I would be ill-informed.

But one theory that I do agree with is that fear of monsters – of zombies, vampires, demons, whatever – is simply a way of dealing with our awareness of our own capability to be monsters.

Continue reading “What you should be afraid of.”

A Discussion of CROSSED

Crossed is a graphic novel written by Garth Ennis, drawn by Jacen Burrows, and published via Avatar Press. The story is set in a world where suddenly there are people who “stop being nice, and start being real.” Unfortunately, “real” in this scenario is bloodthirsty, rape-crazy, and straight up ultra-violent.

Crossed” is how the infected in this universe are described because they develop a cross-like rash across their faces. The rash isn’t an issue. What is and issue is that fact that the infected, unlike other apocalyptic infected, want to rape you to death and mutilate you and destroy you as slowly and horrifically as possible. Because that’s fun now, and okay, because no one can or will stop them. Don’t get me wrong, the Crossed can and do feel pain — but they love it and it won’t slow them down. So, either kill them dead or don’t get caught.

One of the main themes in Crossed was not getting caught. Our protagonists pushed on and on in a constant effort to not get caught by the Crossed until eventually they realized that there are some serious flaws in a plan to live just so you won’t die.

anninyn and I both read volume one recently and needed to discuss it. So we did. Together. In detail. With spoilers, and swears, and graphic descriptions, and even some spoilers for the movie Serenity (which, if you haven’t seen you need to; so, go fix that ASAP).

Below is our discussion and we hope you join in on it if you’ve read the book too. Continue reading “A Discussion of CROSSED”

A Mini-Review of Contagion

 

I watched Contagion this weekend with Husband. Duh, I loved it. It wasn’t a hype machine for crazy-pants pseudo -science or mutants or zombies. It was crazy-pants really, real.

Unlike most of the post-apocalyptic stories we see in entertainment, there was an unsettling realism to Contagion. The fear that was so easily fueled and exploited just made sense. There are enough people in the world with enough mistrust to easily create chaos unrelated to the  direct source of danger.

The movie followed a number of people in different places as far as the virus’ path, place in society, and ability actually do something for themselves or others.

It was interesting (and disturbing) seeing the little things break people down faster then the actual virus. The idea that the dead were only about 1%, give or take, of the population (maybe, as they only alluded to it), was scary.  Society just fell apart.  That’s one (maybe two) out of every one hundred people…

I might sound insensitive but, I honestly didn’t think I’d notice. The thing isn’t how long it would take us to notice though, it’s how long it would take the government to respond. Once they start hiding the President and organizing the national guard people start too panic.

We only know what we see on the news and we assume the government knows so much more than we do. We assume they know about science, suspects, cures, and have more than enough food for almost everyone. We assume they, like we would, well take care of their family and friends first and everyone else will have to prove themselves. When we take a good, hard look at ourselves we’ll realize that we probably don’t have the whatever-it-is that someone’s looking for when they decide to save a life at the expense of long term planning for people they actually give a shit about.

Contagion was more about the infectious nature of rhetoric and rumors than the damage done by actual the virus itself.

I say it’s definitely worth the watch but maybe not worth the money to see it in a theater.

 

 

"Zombie" Ants Found With New Mind-Control Fungi

Check this National Geographic article out and speculate with fear:

The fungus species can infect an ant, take over its brain, and then kill the insect once it moves to a location ideal for the fungi to grow and spread their spores.

All four known fungi species live in Brazil’s Atlantic rain forest, which is rapidly changing due to climate change and deforestation, said study leader David Hughes, an entomologist at Penn State University.

Hughes and colleagues made the discovery after noticing a wide diversity of fungal growths emerging from ant victims, according to the March 2 study in the journal PLoS ONE.

“It is tempting to speculate that each species of fungus has its own ant species that it is best adapted to attack,” Hughes said.

Continue reading “"Zombie" Ants Found With New Mind-Control Fungi”