Psychological Benefits Of Prepping
There are several psychological benefits to prepping, other than the obvious one of feeling a sense of security knowing that you have a stockpile of essentials, and are prepared for any eventuality. Being a prepper is great for a person’s mental health. Preppers enjoy many mental and health benefits just by being preppers. When a person plans to be a prepper, they rarely think of how it can benefit their mental health. But fortunately, improved mental health is an unexpected but very welcome side effect of being a prepper.
To be a prepper, a person needs to learn various skills and have a certain mindset. Having these skills and the prepper mindset has numerous psychological benefits.
Sense Of Security
A prepper feels secure knowing they are prepared, in goods, gear, and the skills they need to survive a disaster. In our lives, situations can change in the blink of an eye. One day everything is great and then something unexpected happens, such as being laid off or there could be a sudden storm. Knowing that you are prepared, makes a person feel more secure.
Improved Self-Esteem
Preppers are confident they can look after themselves and their family if anything should happen. A prepper has the equipment, and the skills to use them when necessary. For example, if an accident occurs in the home, a prepper will have a first aid kit, and the training to use it. While many people will panic, a prepper will be prepared to handle the situation.
Once a person is confident in their ability to handle themselves in a crisis, their self-esteem naturally increases.
Planning Skills And Achieving Goals
Preppers are planners at heart, they plan for all sorts of eventualities. From minor inconveniences like a 24-hour power outage to national disasters such as an earthquake. Good planning requires setting small goals to achieve bigger goals. Every time a prepper hits a goal they feel a sense of satisfaction. Achieving a goal no matter how big or small improves a person’s mindset, once a goal is achieved there is always a feeling of satisfaction.
Learning Mindset
Prepping is a journey of constant learning, preppers know that knowledge and skills increase the odds of survival. It’s not just about having the right gear or supplies, but also knowing how to use the gear, ration the supplies, how to restock when the supplies run low. And knowing where to get the supplies, be it foraging, fishing, hunting, or crops from the garden.
A prepper is always learning and improving themselves. A learning mindset broadens a person’s perspective, it improves self-esteem, and encourages a person to be creative and think out of the box.
Prepping Encourages Creativity
Survivalists and preppers tend to look at things from multiple angles, every piece of gear can be adapted to serve more than one purpose. A simple safety pin. The safety pins primary function is to hold two pieces of cloth together. But to a prepper/survivalist, it can be fashioned into a fishing hook, lock-pick, to remove a splinter, lance a boil, etc.
Space is usually an issue so preppers come up with creative ways to utilize every inch of available space. From the couple of inches behind the sofa that can be used to store spare blankets, to the crawl space under a home that can be used to store pretty much anything.
Self-Reliant
Being self-reliant is not about being a hermit cut off from civilization and all human contact, it is about taking responsibility for one’s situation and dealing with it. About taking charge of your life, making your own decisions, and dealing with problems as they arise.
It’s about knowing you are prepared to handle whatever may come. Preppers are substantially more self-reliant than the general population. They make it a point to be, after all, that is the aim of prepping, to be self-reliant if something should go wrong.
Self-reliant people are more confident, they are happy with the knowledge that they are self-sufficient.
Exercise And Endorphins
Exercise is essential to staying physically and psychologically healthy. When a person exercises endorphins are released. Endorphins reduce stress and improve a person’s mood. Preppers are generally people who are out and about, and active. Whether they are gardening to grow crops, foraging in the woods, or having a DIY project to improve the home. Preppers always have something going on, and that something often involves some form of physical activity.
Mental Health Benefits Of Prepping
The mental health benefits of prepping are not something people think about, people who prep don’t go into prepping thinking, “this is going to help me relieve stress” or “I wonder what the mental health benefits of prepping are?”.
While they may not be thinking about the mental health benefits, the side effects of prepping are clear. Mentally healthier, happier, and more confident people.
So let’s break it down, here are the mental health benefits of prepping:
- Sense of security
- Improved self-esteem
- The feeling of accomplishment as plans are made and goals are met
- A learning mindset
- Increased creativity
- Self-reliance
- Reduced stress
- A sense of control
How To Reduce Stress And Improve Mental Health By Prepping
The process of prepping involves various stress-reducing activities, when a person is stressed, sitting down and moping only aggravates the situation. One of the best methods of reducing stress is by doing something that has a positive effect on your life. Prepping is a great way of focusing on the positive things you can do to be self-reliant.
- Do some gardening, grow your crops, start small, herbs, and some vegetables (tomatoes, zucchini, lettuce, etc).
- Learn to cook, you do not need to be a master chef, but cooking is an essential prepping skill.
- Learn to forage, foraging is a great way to improve mental health, get some fresh air, exercise, and learn about the various edible plants in your area.
- Learn to fish, do I need to mention how relaxing fishing is?
- Learn to knit, start with a simple beanie, and work your way up to more advanced projects. I have knitted myself a fantastic pair of socks and love them, they are the warmest pair of socks I own.
- Learn to sew, another essential prepping/survival skill, you never know when you may need to repair some piece of clothing or equipment.
- Read a book, my favorite method of de-stressing.
- Build something, a flower bed, shed, or chicken coop. Building things improves mental health and reduces stress.
These are just a few methods on how to reduce stress while at the same time learning/practicing prepping skills.
Conclusion:
The world is an unpredictable place, and while it is impossible to control the things that happen around us. It is possible to prepare for some of them. While some people worry and fret over what could happen, without doing anything about it. Others choose to prepare themselves. Here are “skills a prepper can learn indoors“
Making a conscious decision to be self-reliant. By being educated, skilled, and trained in what to do if things go wrong has benefits that affect our daily lives. The psychological benefits of prepping are undeniable. But be aware, too much of anything is not healthy. Realize that there is a difference between prepping, and obsessing over potential disasters. Between stocking up, and hoarding.
Be realistic in your preps, plan achievable goals, and do not let the potential for what may happen in the future, prevent you from living in the present.
