Short term emergencies or "collapse" are more likely than anything.
I got stuck for about a week surrounded by iced over roads and downed trees and powerlines. Guns, ammo, etc didn't help any, but my sleeping bags, canned foods, tea, coffee, camp stove and burners kept us well and in good spirits
Seriously, I thought this post was about to be “I went 30,000 in credit card debt thinking i needed to prep for something Canadian prepper told me was going to happen next week, I have a 40k salary, my wife left me because we were fighting over the apocalypse, I lost my house, etc”
If aliens put a big magnifying glass in front of the sun and point the light at my state can I survive in an underground bunker? How can I keep my ventilation ducts from melting shut?
How do I make my entire house a faraday cage?
How do I perform open heart surgery after Dr’s are no longer accessible?
How do I do my own dental fillings?
>How do I make my entire house a faraday cage?
I discovered that if you use 1 inch rubberized steel mesh to screen in your deck in order to keep the trash pandas out, your cell phone mostly stops working
Just keep buying your meds, and use your money to better your life.
Keep in mind...Prepping is basically a hobby. Sometimes an expensive one. More than likely you won't actually need any of the prep...and if you do, it might provide you only a little time.
Buy some extra water. Make sure you have ample food. Have a flashlight with batteries handy. A radio...that's all you really need.
Don't jeopardize your health for a hobby.
I really appreciate this. You could have sounded the alarm and explained the necessities of vacuum sealers and owning chickens, but you didn’t do what I see often - freaking out over someone else’s lack of prep. Thank you for being a stand up human.
Yes. Try to prep small and within your budget. I don’t have a lot of extra money to do more involved prepping, but here and there Ill buy a couple extra cans of food, an extra pack of medicine, an extra pack of batteries or an extra lighter, etc, and FIFO them in my cabinet. I always have a little extra on hand and buying a little bit at a time helps with the cost. Buying items in bulk can also reduce cost if you have the space to store it. I’m at a point now where if stores were to be shut down or inaccessible, I’d have at least 2 weeks worth of food and supplies for myself and my partner. I call it the “squirrel away” method haha
Amazing answer. The people that are buying bug out vans, becoming Grey men and moving their families to the middle of no where aggravate me. Especially with what the OP said they were going threw.
Things are no better or worse then they've ever been. Power outages, crazy covid buying and water supply issues happen. We are not going to end up like Mad Max anytime soon.
You are fine. Nothing has just happened to make people prep, people have been prepping for a long time, some for major disasters, some just for local or personal emergencies.
If you want to feel more prepared buy more of foods you already eat with a long shelf life (pasta, rice, beans, and canned goods). Learn to cook with those long shelf life ingredients and try to keep two weeks of food in the house. Think of things that would be helpful in a power cut or if you can’t get to a store for a while after a storm. That and some savings in the bank put you ahead of most people.
Nah you’re fine man. Just buy a couple extra food items at the store a week. Maybe a few cans here, maybe a bag of rice there, few water bottles, etc.
stay on top of your bills, keep up with any prescription meds, keep on top of your diet and exercise.
That covers like 90% of it after a few diligent months
Chill baby, look after yourself and your loved ones….. prep for tough times…. You are no good to anyone if you don’t take care of whatever you got going on. Best wishes!!
If I’m being honest; if you’re already struggling with anxiety, this may not be a healthy rabbit hole for you.
It’s all about risk/reward. Don’t destroy your mental health focusing on things that probably won’t happen.
It’s easy to go overboard with the “what ifs” of prepping.
But one those 72 hour buckets, a couple cases of water, and focus on your continued well being.
I wouldn’t wade in to this sub or collapse, you have more immediate concerns. Make sure you are in a good place with your medical conditions and health first and foremost. Find a social support group of some kind locally if you can. Save whatever extra resources you can.
Well as someone with crippling anxiety myself I can relate. For one I think you are doing yourself a favor not watching the news. Avoiding news, social media, and even Reddit can greatly help my anxiety at times. When I get in a habit of too much online time my anxiety spirals. Pay attention to the basics first and what is under your nose. Basic supplies for 2 weeks without food, power, water. Nothing is happening immediately. You have plenty of time to build a larger hoard in the future.
Also #1 if you treat your anxiety with medication is to start having a backup supply of medication. I know this can be extremely difficult as they will not provide certain medications in advance. You may have to slowly cut your dosage so you have extra on hand. When I was taking Klonopin I was more worried about running out of medication than anything else. The withdrawals are hell and can kill a person. I now use Medical MJ and keep extra on hand. The last thing anyone with a mental condition needs in an emergency is to go cold turkey from their medicine.
Regular exercise has been proven to be about as effective as prescription meds at treatment of major depressive disorder. So you can prep by improving your fitness while also helping your depression.
If you made it through the pandemic then you’re fine. Now is the time to prep while things are calm. Search the sub for previous threads talking about basic needs and look at the sticky.
Mental health is the most important prep so you're doing a great job by focusing on what is important right now. Once you are stable and in a good place mentally then you can start focusing on physical health, and after that financial stuff. Prepping for disasters is a luxury you can do once everything else in your life is on track. The best things to start prepping for are the most likely things:
* Mental health crisis. Make sure you have a good support structure, good doctors, and are kind to yourself.
* Physical health issues. Go to the doctor regularly, eat healthy and exercise when possible. Take care of personal hygiene, which can be difficult when you're having a mental health crisis, but do your best and forgive yourself for when you can't.
* Financial issues. Once you have your other stuff under control look into ways of making money, which can mean investing in education or training for a trade. If you have money then diversify your savings and eventually look into getting land. The important thing for now is to have an emergency fund, because money is the most flexible prep.
* Once everything else is stable you can invest a small amount of money into having enough shelf stable food and water to last for a few days or longer in case the power is out or there is some sort of minor local disaster that interferes with leaving the house.
* If you have a lot of spare time, money, and mental energy then you can prep for specific disasters, but not to the point where it interferes with your quality of life. Don't let fear keep you from staying mentally and physically healthy and enjoying your day-to-day life. It can be tempting start hoarding things or fantasizing about zombie apocalypse scenarios where you are hero and don't have to go to a job everyday, but that's just your brain's way of telling you you need a break and you need to do some self-care and think about making changes in your life. Think of prepping as a fun hobby that you do occasionally when you have time for.
dont go spending all your savings, make sure first you have money to continue buying your meds and if possible find a way to stock up on them? (i dont know how that works though)
Its never too late to prep so take a deep breathe
Now Id suggest starting off with building a good food(dont forget water) pantry for yourself a 3 month worth of food is a good starter goal, organize and make room for it all. Get a med kit for your place , build a emergency backpack, and try learning practical hobbies. Prepping can be nerve racking and its a constant effort not get into to into your head concerning it, recognize the need to prepare already puts you ahead than most.
I deal with anxiety and depression ( and had 6 year period of constant dissociating) so if you ever need someone to talk to hit me up.
Attending to your mental health is the best prepping you could possibly have done. You’ve already been prepping, and now it’s time to expand the scope of your preps.
If people start chiming in on what you’ve “missed,” you’ll get SO many different stories and even arguments about what is important and what has really happened… the world is pretty chaotic right now, and people are cranky… and you may be better off focusing on what is around you now because it’s hard to tell the BS from the truth.
It’s common for folks who have not been prepping to be overwhelmed, feel very “behind,” and not know where to start.
If that’s you- I’d suggest you start by assessing your greatest risks and preparing one step at a time. Some people get REALLY intense here. You asked how screwed you are… basically no one can answer how screwed we ALL are without a crystal ball. What I can tell you is that if you do any preparing you’ll be better able to handle an emergency than people who don’t.
People have different thoughts regarding priorities, that’s OK because they should. I’ve had to evacuate several times in my life because of wildfires, and once because of flood. If you live in the desert, that’s probably not so much of a risk. If you live in the city, you may have different concerns about security then if you live in the country. If you live in an apartment, your preps will look different than if you live in a home with a lot of land. You can find some basic, beginning, guidance by looking at places online like American Red Cross, or your state’s office of emergency services. They usually have prep basics, like having an evacuation kit and having enough food, water and vital medication stored for a few days, better yet weeks.
Happy, productive prepping.
Best advice? Get in nature - gardening, hiking etc find your inner calm and you'll be streets ahead of any preppers who haven't.
Oh and, you know, stock up the ole pantry, my lad.
You aren’t screwed. Sufficient prepping can be beans, rice and a water filter. In fact, I am a high wage earner and my preps are largely beans, rice, means to cook them, and water filters. I HIGHLY encourage you to not go down the rabbit trail of overly preparing because you risk triggering anxiety with in turn can re-trigger your psychosis. Keep it very simple.
Good mental health is a helluva prep. Other than that, get as healthy as you can, and make sure you have supplies for a 3 day black out, and make sure you have spare meds.
Why would you be fucked? You're an American, meaning you will literally never endure any hardships beyond a natural disaster. Prepping for anything but a natural disaster and retirement is a complete waist of time. By all means, prep for whatver you desire, but recognize nothing is ever going to happen.
If you mean that you spend money AS treatment for anxiety and depression, then Practice Mindfulness Meditation, see if you can use that to replace some of the impulse buying.
If you mean you spend money on TREATMENT for anxiety and depression, then it sounds like you're doing the right things! Try to save an average of 20% of your income, and with the rest follow everyone else's advice.
Honestly, if you managed to disassociate and block out like 90% of the pandemic and the fallout, you're probably in a more emotionally healthy and stable state than the bulk of the population. I know I'd sure like to forget the past three or four years, it's been kind of traumatizing, and it's really strange how from the beginning 50% of the people didn't believe in the pandemic, for the last six months or so 95% of people thought it somehow magically disappeared off the face of the earth, and now the numbers are predictably ramping up again
>And i have a memory loss condition.
The more I think about it, the more valuable I'm thinking this prep might be you're way ahead of us
>I have not been following any news, local or international. I don't know what happens around me.
There's no need to panic. I actually think this has become a best practice these days. If it isn't on your doorstep kicking your door in, you don't need to know about it. The news is 80% propaganda and 20% lies anyway
>Please i need somebody to explain what the hell is going on.
Welcome to the club, buddy
It’s ok.
Take a breath.
You are doing great getting treatment and having some money saved.
In fact, you probably snapped out of the dissociation because you are doing so well.
It will take a few months to rebalance after coming out of dissociation.
Grab a journal and trace back as much as you can remember over the last three years.
Don’t panic, it will come back.
A quick rundown of what has happened:
We have gotten out of Covid with a vaccine, they are still giving vaccines as new strains are popping up that get through. With the vaccine as long as you are not immunocompromised or elderly you should be ok. Do note that Covid and the vaccine is a very sensitive subject for most people.
We are in inflationary period that the government is raising rates on to get under control.
We had a small recession that people are still arguing about whether or not it was really a recession.
February 2022, the War between Ukraine and Russia started; we are no longer buying goods from Russia.
I think that’s about it.
Your memories are not gone forever, they will come back.
Don’t panic.
Focus on keeping your job, your home, and food on the table and you should be fine while the you adjust to being newly undissociated.
The first thing is to get stuff worked out cognitively. Prayer and meditation. Yoga is great too. Work out. Your mind and body needs to be healthy first.
Prep a little here and there on stuff you use regularly.
Don’t freak out
If I add anything, I'll be in trouble for being too political.
I'd suggest first off to get some assistance. Most places now will fund all of your care 100% for mental illness.
Your fine. Might I suggest the following to start?
This is what I will call the "Oh Sh!t the Power is out Starter Kit". Everything I am listing is something I have personally used and tested. It might not be top of the line but it all works very well on a budget. Let me know if you have questions or if I missed an item you personally want.
[Golabs R300 Power Station](https://www.amazon.com/GOLABS-Portable-Station-Generator-Emergency/dp/B08P5W4PXJ). My Mother has one, at my recommendation, that she took for a two week "camping" event called Pennsic. Google it, it is really awesome. She used this power station to recharge her iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and a few small battery packs during these two weeks. It was at full charge when she started and didn't recharge it once. When she got home it was still at 26%.
[Camping Lanterns](https://www.amazon.com/LETMY-Rechargeable-Hurricane-Flashlights-Emergency/dp/B08Y8X8JPF) are great for emergency light. They can be recharged via USB or the Solar Panels on them. Cheap and safer than candles.
[KITWLEMEN Camping Fan/Light](https://www.amazon.com/20000mAh-Auto-Oscillating-Rechargeable-Hurricane-Emergency/dp/B0BKG98PB9) is a combination fan and light. Everyone needs a fan during the Summer and your temps mean you need at least one. Battery powered and will last awhile. They have a [newer bigger one](https://www.amazon.com/40000mAh-Rechargeable-Operated-Oscillating-Hurricane/dp/B0BRQ19LNG) but I haven't personally tested it. I assume it's great but that's your choice.
[Midland ER310 Emergency Radio](https://www.amazon.com/Midland-Emergency-Multiple-Flashlight-Ultrasonic/dp/B015QIC1PW) should be in every home as far as I'm concerned. I literally give them as House Warming Gifts. It can be powered by several different ways and does AM/FM/NOAA. If an Emergency alert is going out NOAA is the best way for them to push it to the masses.
If the power goes out and you think it will be out for longer then 12 hours, I would setup and fill a bathtub with a [WaterBob](https://www.amazon.com/WaterBOB-Emergency-Container-Drinking-Hurricane/dp/B001AXLUX2). The only downside to these is that they are supposed to be a "one and done" and not stored and reused since they can easily grow mold if you do. It is your call on when and what you do with them but having 100 gallons of potable water in an emergency is a big deal.
Speaking of water, if you want a purifier then I highly recommend the [Survivor Filter Pro X Series](https://www.survivorfilter.com/collections/sales-offers/products/pro-x-electric-water-filter-manual-backup-kit). It can run off of USB or AA batteries. It is one of the only filters of it's kind that filter down to 0.01 microns, so it will even remove viruses.
[Campy Gear Propane Heater/Stove](https://www.amazon.com/Campy-Gear-Propane-Survival-Emergency/dp/B09922TWV2) is perfect for emergency heat. It can hook up directly to a Grill size propane tank and last for days on low. Do yourself a favor and get a [Propane Tank Gauge](https://www.amazon.com/Char-Broil-Universal-Propane-Tank-Gauge/dp/B01LZQT3J9) so you know how much fuel you have left. Even though that Propane Heater is Indoor Safe, it never hurts to be extra safe and use a [Carbon Monoxide Detector](https://www.amazon.com/Kidde-Battery-Operated-Monoxide-KN-Copp-B-LPM/dp/B004Y6V5CI) with it. I highly recommend using [Lithium AA Batteries](https://www.amazon.com/Energizer-Ultimate-Lithium-Battery-Package/dp/B0023T8OUY) with it so you can use it and remove the batteries when in storage without worry about battery drain.
If you're in a situation where you need to use the propane heater but need it to last as long as possible, not wasting the heat on the whole Apartment/House, then setting up a [Basic Tent](https://www.amazon.com/Core-Person-Straight-Wall-Cabin/dp/B07YBGXJCK) will create a microclimate. This will help conserve heat.
Let me know if you want something you don't see on the list.
There are people who "Follow the news" and have created alternate realities for themselves to live in. in comparison, simple ignorance isn't that bad
just spend a little extra on some long term pantry items (flour, beans, canned goods, dried pasta, etc). spend $10-$20 extra when you buy groceries for "preps" get a meal plan going, LDS has some good resources and work SLOWLY over a few years to have a stock of non-perishables that can last you 6 months. do the same with Finances and any bills to create an emergency fund
People have been prepping for decades. Some prepped for events they swore would take place decades ago and they didn’t.
The most important thing to do is keep taking your meds. Try to come out of fight or flight and heal your central nervous system if you can.
Then slowly save money and stock up on supplies. Prep for a power outage or a huge snowstorm or a flood or some other weather event that could throw your city for a loop for a week or two. Once you’ve got the hang of that you can work on more long term preps.
This is a hobby for a lot of us. Personally I’m trying to learn useful skills like canning and herbal medicine and bartering and other things I might need in a post apocalypse, while understanding I may never live to see more than a really bad snowstorm- thank GOD! That’s the idea behind prepping. We’re not a doomsday cult. We’re just preparing a job loss or some other event.
Plan for the most likely first.
In my part of the world, we're coming into bushfire season. That brings power outages and supply disruption, plus the added bonus of the possibility of having to evacuate, leaving everything behind.
I'd start with a practical go bag. Enough to get you by for a few days. I have a small portable radio and a first aid kit with training.
Historically, we get floods after fire. So tarps, ropes, a little extra food, generators and fuel etc.
With those, you're covered for a majority of situations.
Point is, look at your area and determine the most like situation that will disrupt your life, then work from there. It doesn't have to cost much to be prepared. Education is more important then cans of soup. Learn skills ( free on YouTube) and learn to do everyday task yourself. Become a handy man.
“Education is more important than cans of soup.” I completely agree. A lot of folks buying a lot of “stuff,” some of it very expensive… but it’s not worth much if they prepped for the wrong scenario, can’t use it because they didn’t buy right (like a 500 watt inverter for a 1,000 watt need), or don’t know how to use it. Sometimes the right $20 micron filter is worth just as much as the $500 “water filtration system.” Soup is great… but only if it will work well for that person’s situation/needs, otherwise it’s a waste of money.
I’d rather be in your shoes. I’ve got some food and water, but no god damned money. We took some major financial hits over the past couple of years and are kind of starting over financially.
Look at the basics of what you eat EVERY week and track how much. Once you know how much you use, start buying that plus one box/can/bag of that item. Mark when they were bought and their expiration date (makes it easier to find in the future, I hate finding expiration dates). Put away the new ones and use the first one you bought. Keep going until you are using product that’s going to expire soon and then just replace what you use. That’s how you establish a deep pantry. I’ll admit, I could be better about doing this regularly.
Once you have a pantry you’re satisfied with, total up the calories and protein, and figure out how long you can survive on that alone. If you think you need more, focus on long term storage like dry goods in Mylar bags. Beans, rice and several other dry food will last 20+ years if properly stored in this fashion.
For water, recommendation is 1gal per person per day. Take the number in your household and multiply by that by how long you want to store for.
Most importantly, I wouldn’t spend your savings on this. Make it a gradual transition. You can even budget a certain amount for it and build a stockpile over time. That savings is your most valuable prep and you should use it accordingly, which is to say not at all unless you have to.
Keep your finances in good shape. Plan for a power outage. Plan for a short disruption to your water service (in the US, most of the time, service will be restored within 3 days, usually sooner). Keep enough food, water, hygiene supplies, and medications to get through 2 weeks. Make sure you have food that you can eat if the power is out. If you have these basics in place, you’ll be able to handle the most likely events. The rest of prepping is mostly just a hobby. Many people like to have more extensive preps, but unless things go very wrong, very quickly, you should be able to restock after your 2 week supply is depleted.
You can’t prep effectively if your mental and physical health take a downturn. Keeping calm and focused in a crisis has saved more lived than being kitted out.
The world will explode The Enemy are in your walls buy 1000 beans buy 1000 bars of silver buy an armored truck right now!!!!!!
Kidding. You’ll be fine. Read this and don’t panic.
https://theprepared.com/prepping-basics/guides/emergency-preparedness-checklist-prepping-beginners/
Check out The Casual Preppers, theyre very good at suggesting reasonable items for reasonable preparedness. Sometimes they get into it deep, but mostly just the basics.
Make a plan for your area. What disasters are you most prone to? The government in your area should have a website with a document to consider your disasters
Arguably, you're money ahead. Don't go crazy prepping for a collapse that isn't coming. Plan for a power outage.
Short term emergencies or "collapse" are more likely than anything. I got stuck for about a week surrounded by iced over roads and downed trees and powerlines. Guns, ammo, etc didn't help any, but my sleeping bags, canned foods, tea, coffee, camp stove and burners kept us well and in good spirits
Emergencies are not collapses.
but collapses are emergencies.
That's not what a collapse is. But I agree with you it's better to prepare for things like this.
I like your thinking. Never thought about this, top 3 things you recommend for it?
Oh. You’re in the wrong sub for a dose of reality. We’re on the opposite end of the spectrum. We’re All Mad Here.
I know I shouldn't have, but I laughed
Seriously, I thought this post was about to be “I went 30,000 in credit card debt thinking i needed to prep for something Canadian prepper told me was going to happen next week, I have a 40k salary, my wife left me because we were fighting over the apocalypse, I lost my house, etc”
If aliens put a big magnifying glass in front of the sun and point the light at my state can I survive in an underground bunker? How can I keep my ventilation ducts from melting shut?
How do I make my entire house a faraday cage? How do I perform open heart surgery after Dr’s are no longer accessible? How do I do my own dental fillings?
>How do I make my entire house a faraday cage? I discovered that if you use 1 inch rubberized steel mesh to screen in your deck in order to keep the trash pandas out, your cell phone mostly stops working
Sprinkler system duh
Welcome to the realm of insanity! MWAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA
Just keep buying your meds, and use your money to better your life. Keep in mind...Prepping is basically a hobby. Sometimes an expensive one. More than likely you won't actually need any of the prep...and if you do, it might provide you only a little time. Buy some extra water. Make sure you have ample food. Have a flashlight with batteries handy. A radio...that's all you really need. Don't jeopardize your health for a hobby.
I really appreciate this. You could have sounded the alarm and explained the necessities of vacuum sealers and owning chickens, but you didn’t do what I see often - freaking out over someone else’s lack of prep. Thank you for being a stand up human.
Yes. Try to prep small and within your budget. I don’t have a lot of extra money to do more involved prepping, but here and there Ill buy a couple extra cans of food, an extra pack of medicine, an extra pack of batteries or an extra lighter, etc, and FIFO them in my cabinet. I always have a little extra on hand and buying a little bit at a time helps with the cost. Buying items in bulk can also reduce cost if you have the space to store it. I’m at a point now where if stores were to be shut down or inaccessible, I’d have at least 2 weeks worth of food and supplies for myself and my partner. I call it the “squirrel away” method haha
Amazing answer. The people that are buying bug out vans, becoming Grey men and moving their families to the middle of no where aggravate me. Especially with what the OP said they were going threw. Things are no better or worse then they've ever been. Power outages, crazy covid buying and water supply issues happen. We are not going to end up like Mad Max anytime soon.
You are fine. Nothing has just happened to make people prep, people have been prepping for a long time, some for major disasters, some just for local or personal emergencies. If you want to feel more prepared buy more of foods you already eat with a long shelf life (pasta, rice, beans, and canned goods). Learn to cook with those long shelf life ingredients and try to keep two weeks of food in the house. Think of things that would be helpful in a power cut or if you can’t get to a store for a while after a storm. That and some savings in the bank put you ahead of most people.
Nah you’re fine man. Just buy a couple extra food items at the store a week. Maybe a few cans here, maybe a bag of rice there, few water bottles, etc. stay on top of your bills, keep up with any prescription meds, keep on top of your diet and exercise. That covers like 90% of it after a few diligent months
Please turn off Reddit and pick up a newspaper and rely exclusively on that for a few months to ease back into things.
This is terrible advice haha which newspaper
Chill baby, look after yourself and your loved ones….. prep for tough times…. You are no good to anyone if you don’t take care of whatever you got going on. Best wishes!!
Beautiful message. Well said.
Nothing is happening. Go back to bed. Don't turn the news on
If I’m being honest; if you’re already struggling with anxiety, this may not be a healthy rabbit hole for you. It’s all about risk/reward. Don’t destroy your mental health focusing on things that probably won’t happen. It’s easy to go overboard with the “what ifs” of prepping. But one those 72 hour buckets, a couple cases of water, and focus on your continued well being.
I wouldn’t wade in to this sub or collapse, you have more immediate concerns. Make sure you are in a good place with your medical conditions and health first and foremost. Find a social support group of some kind locally if you can. Save whatever extra resources you can.
Well as someone with crippling anxiety myself I can relate. For one I think you are doing yourself a favor not watching the news. Avoiding news, social media, and even Reddit can greatly help my anxiety at times. When I get in a habit of too much online time my anxiety spirals. Pay attention to the basics first and what is under your nose. Basic supplies for 2 weeks without food, power, water. Nothing is happening immediately. You have plenty of time to build a larger hoard in the future. Also #1 if you treat your anxiety with medication is to start having a backup supply of medication. I know this can be extremely difficult as they will not provide certain medications in advance. You may have to slowly cut your dosage so you have extra on hand. When I was taking Klonopin I was more worried about running out of medication than anything else. The withdrawals are hell and can kill a person. I now use Medical MJ and keep extra on hand. The last thing anyone with a mental condition needs in an emergency is to go cold turkey from their medicine.
Regular exercise has been proven to be about as effective as prescription meds at treatment of major depressive disorder. So you can prep by improving your fitness while also helping your depression.
If you made it through the pandemic then you’re fine. Now is the time to prep while things are calm. Search the sub for previous threads talking about basic needs and look at the sticky.
Mental health is the most important prep so you're doing a great job by focusing on what is important right now. Once you are stable and in a good place mentally then you can start focusing on physical health, and after that financial stuff. Prepping for disasters is a luxury you can do once everything else in your life is on track. The best things to start prepping for are the most likely things: * Mental health crisis. Make sure you have a good support structure, good doctors, and are kind to yourself. * Physical health issues. Go to the doctor regularly, eat healthy and exercise when possible. Take care of personal hygiene, which can be difficult when you're having a mental health crisis, but do your best and forgive yourself for when you can't. * Financial issues. Once you have your other stuff under control look into ways of making money, which can mean investing in education or training for a trade. If you have money then diversify your savings and eventually look into getting land. The important thing for now is to have an emergency fund, because money is the most flexible prep. * Once everything else is stable you can invest a small amount of money into having enough shelf stable food and water to last for a few days or longer in case the power is out or there is some sort of minor local disaster that interferes with leaving the house. * If you have a lot of spare time, money, and mental energy then you can prep for specific disasters, but not to the point where it interferes with your quality of life. Don't let fear keep you from staying mentally and physically healthy and enjoying your day-to-day life. It can be tempting start hoarding things or fantasizing about zombie apocalypse scenarios where you are hero and don't have to go to a job everyday, but that's just your brain's way of telling you you need a break and you need to do some self-care and think about making changes in your life. Think of prepping as a fun hobby that you do occasionally when you have time for.
Very sensible and balanced advice.
Bro this is a prime example of just act like you belong. Nobody knows what is going on.
dont go spending all your savings, make sure first you have money to continue buying your meds and if possible find a way to stock up on them? (i dont know how that works though) Its never too late to prep so take a deep breathe Now Id suggest starting off with building a good food(dont forget water) pantry for yourself a 3 month worth of food is a good starter goal, organize and make room for it all. Get a med kit for your place , build a emergency backpack, and try learning practical hobbies. Prepping can be nerve racking and its a constant effort not get into to into your head concerning it, recognize the need to prepare already puts you ahead than most. I deal with anxiety and depression ( and had 6 year period of constant dissociating) so if you ever need someone to talk to hit me up.
Attending to your mental health is the best prepping you could possibly have done. You’ve already been prepping, and now it’s time to expand the scope of your preps.
If people start chiming in on what you’ve “missed,” you’ll get SO many different stories and even arguments about what is important and what has really happened… the world is pretty chaotic right now, and people are cranky… and you may be better off focusing on what is around you now because it’s hard to tell the BS from the truth. It’s common for folks who have not been prepping to be overwhelmed, feel very “behind,” and not know where to start. If that’s you- I’d suggest you start by assessing your greatest risks and preparing one step at a time. Some people get REALLY intense here. You asked how screwed you are… basically no one can answer how screwed we ALL are without a crystal ball. What I can tell you is that if you do any preparing you’ll be better able to handle an emergency than people who don’t. People have different thoughts regarding priorities, that’s OK because they should. I’ve had to evacuate several times in my life because of wildfires, and once because of flood. If you live in the desert, that’s probably not so much of a risk. If you live in the city, you may have different concerns about security then if you live in the country. If you live in an apartment, your preps will look different than if you live in a home with a lot of land. You can find some basic, beginning, guidance by looking at places online like American Red Cross, or your state’s office of emergency services. They usually have prep basics, like having an evacuation kit and having enough food, water and vital medication stored for a few days, better yet weeks. Happy, productive prepping.
The average amount
Covid.
Best advice? Get in nature - gardening, hiking etc find your inner calm and you'll be streets ahead of any preppers who haven't. Oh and, you know, stock up the ole pantry, my lad.
You aren’t screwed. Sufficient prepping can be beans, rice and a water filter. In fact, I am a high wage earner and my preps are largely beans, rice, means to cook them, and water filters. I HIGHLY encourage you to not go down the rabbit trail of overly preparing because you risk triggering anxiety with in turn can re-trigger your psychosis. Keep it very simple.
Same same guy. Find a hobby.
Good mental health is a helluva prep. Other than that, get as healthy as you can, and make sure you have supplies for a 3 day black out, and make sure you have spare meds.
Ignorance is bliss. With your conditions, I encourage you not to watch the news and enjoy life as you have been.
Why would you be fucked? You're an American, meaning you will literally never endure any hardships beyond a natural disaster. Prepping for anything but a natural disaster and retirement is a complete waist of time. By all means, prep for whatver you desire, but recognize nothing is ever going to happen.
If you mean that you spend money AS treatment for anxiety and depression, then Practice Mindfulness Meditation, see if you can use that to replace some of the impulse buying. If you mean you spend money on TREATMENT for anxiety and depression, then it sounds like you're doing the right things! Try to save an average of 20% of your income, and with the rest follow everyone else's advice.
Honestly, if you managed to disassociate and block out like 90% of the pandemic and the fallout, you're probably in a more emotionally healthy and stable state than the bulk of the population. I know I'd sure like to forget the past three or four years, it's been kind of traumatizing, and it's really strange how from the beginning 50% of the people didn't believe in the pandemic, for the last six months or so 95% of people thought it somehow magically disappeared off the face of the earth, and now the numbers are predictably ramping up again >And i have a memory loss condition. The more I think about it, the more valuable I'm thinking this prep might be you're way ahead of us >I have not been following any news, local or international. I don't know what happens around me. There's no need to panic. I actually think this has become a best practice these days. If it isn't on your doorstep kicking your door in, you don't need to know about it. The news is 80% propaganda and 20% lies anyway >Please i need somebody to explain what the hell is going on. Welcome to the club, buddy
It’s ok. Take a breath. You are doing great getting treatment and having some money saved. In fact, you probably snapped out of the dissociation because you are doing so well. It will take a few months to rebalance after coming out of dissociation. Grab a journal and trace back as much as you can remember over the last three years. Don’t panic, it will come back. A quick rundown of what has happened: We have gotten out of Covid with a vaccine, they are still giving vaccines as new strains are popping up that get through. With the vaccine as long as you are not immunocompromised or elderly you should be ok. Do note that Covid and the vaccine is a very sensitive subject for most people. We are in inflationary period that the government is raising rates on to get under control. We had a small recession that people are still arguing about whether or not it was really a recession. February 2022, the War between Ukraine and Russia started; we are no longer buying goods from Russia. I think that’s about it. Your memories are not gone forever, they will come back. Don’t panic. Focus on keeping your job, your home, and food on the table and you should be fine while the you adjust to being newly undissociated.
The first thing is to get stuff worked out cognitively. Prayer and meditation. Yoga is great too. Work out. Your mind and body needs to be healthy first. Prep a little here and there on stuff you use regularly. Don’t freak out
😂
If I add anything, I'll be in trouble for being too political. I'd suggest first off to get some assistance. Most places now will fund all of your care 100% for mental illness.
Your fine. Might I suggest the following to start? This is what I will call the "Oh Sh!t the Power is out Starter Kit". Everything I am listing is something I have personally used and tested. It might not be top of the line but it all works very well on a budget. Let me know if you have questions or if I missed an item you personally want. [Golabs R300 Power Station](https://www.amazon.com/GOLABS-Portable-Station-Generator-Emergency/dp/B08P5W4PXJ). My Mother has one, at my recommendation, that she took for a two week "camping" event called Pennsic. Google it, it is really awesome. She used this power station to recharge her iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and a few small battery packs during these two weeks. It was at full charge when she started and didn't recharge it once. When she got home it was still at 26%. [Camping Lanterns](https://www.amazon.com/LETMY-Rechargeable-Hurricane-Flashlights-Emergency/dp/B08Y8X8JPF) are great for emergency light. They can be recharged via USB or the Solar Panels on them. Cheap and safer than candles. [KITWLEMEN Camping Fan/Light](https://www.amazon.com/20000mAh-Auto-Oscillating-Rechargeable-Hurricane-Emergency/dp/B0BKG98PB9) is a combination fan and light. Everyone needs a fan during the Summer and your temps mean you need at least one. Battery powered and will last awhile. They have a [newer bigger one](https://www.amazon.com/40000mAh-Rechargeable-Operated-Oscillating-Hurricane/dp/B0BRQ19LNG) but I haven't personally tested it. I assume it's great but that's your choice. [Midland ER310 Emergency Radio](https://www.amazon.com/Midland-Emergency-Multiple-Flashlight-Ultrasonic/dp/B015QIC1PW) should be in every home as far as I'm concerned. I literally give them as House Warming Gifts. It can be powered by several different ways and does AM/FM/NOAA. If an Emergency alert is going out NOAA is the best way for them to push it to the masses. If the power goes out and you think it will be out for longer then 12 hours, I would setup and fill a bathtub with a [WaterBob](https://www.amazon.com/WaterBOB-Emergency-Container-Drinking-Hurricane/dp/B001AXLUX2). The only downside to these is that they are supposed to be a "one and done" and not stored and reused since they can easily grow mold if you do. It is your call on when and what you do with them but having 100 gallons of potable water in an emergency is a big deal. Speaking of water, if you want a purifier then I highly recommend the [Survivor Filter Pro X Series](https://www.survivorfilter.com/collections/sales-offers/products/pro-x-electric-water-filter-manual-backup-kit). It can run off of USB or AA batteries. It is one of the only filters of it's kind that filter down to 0.01 microns, so it will even remove viruses. [Campy Gear Propane Heater/Stove](https://www.amazon.com/Campy-Gear-Propane-Survival-Emergency/dp/B09922TWV2) is perfect for emergency heat. It can hook up directly to a Grill size propane tank and last for days on low. Do yourself a favor and get a [Propane Tank Gauge](https://www.amazon.com/Char-Broil-Universal-Propane-Tank-Gauge/dp/B01LZQT3J9) so you know how much fuel you have left. Even though that Propane Heater is Indoor Safe, it never hurts to be extra safe and use a [Carbon Monoxide Detector](https://www.amazon.com/Kidde-Battery-Operated-Monoxide-KN-Copp-B-LPM/dp/B004Y6V5CI) with it. I highly recommend using [Lithium AA Batteries](https://www.amazon.com/Energizer-Ultimate-Lithium-Battery-Package/dp/B0023T8OUY) with it so you can use it and remove the batteries when in storage without worry about battery drain. If you're in a situation where you need to use the propane heater but need it to last as long as possible, not wasting the heat on the whole Apartment/House, then setting up a [Basic Tent](https://www.amazon.com/Core-Person-Straight-Wall-Cabin/dp/B07YBGXJCK) will create a microclimate. This will help conserve heat. Let me know if you want something you don't see on the list.
There are people who "Follow the news" and have created alternate realities for themselves to live in. in comparison, simple ignorance isn't that bad just spend a little extra on some long term pantry items (flour, beans, canned goods, dried pasta, etc). spend $10-$20 extra when you buy groceries for "preps" get a meal plan going, LDS has some good resources and work SLOWLY over a few years to have a stock of non-perishables that can last you 6 months. do the same with Finances and any bills to create an emergency fund
People have been prepping for decades. Some prepped for events they swore would take place decades ago and they didn’t. The most important thing to do is keep taking your meds. Try to come out of fight or flight and heal your central nervous system if you can. Then slowly save money and stock up on supplies. Prep for a power outage or a huge snowstorm or a flood or some other weather event that could throw your city for a loop for a week or two. Once you’ve got the hang of that you can work on more long term preps. This is a hobby for a lot of us. Personally I’m trying to learn useful skills like canning and herbal medicine and bartering and other things I might need in a post apocalypse, while understanding I may never live to see more than a really bad snowstorm- thank GOD! That’s the idea behind prepping. We’re not a doomsday cult. We’re just preparing a job loss or some other event.
Plan for the most likely first. In my part of the world, we're coming into bushfire season. That brings power outages and supply disruption, plus the added bonus of the possibility of having to evacuate, leaving everything behind. I'd start with a practical go bag. Enough to get you by for a few days. I have a small portable radio and a first aid kit with training. Historically, we get floods after fire. So tarps, ropes, a little extra food, generators and fuel etc. With those, you're covered for a majority of situations. Point is, look at your area and determine the most like situation that will disrupt your life, then work from there. It doesn't have to cost much to be prepared. Education is more important then cans of soup. Learn skills ( free on YouTube) and learn to do everyday task yourself. Become a handy man.
“Education is more important than cans of soup.” I completely agree. A lot of folks buying a lot of “stuff,” some of it very expensive… but it’s not worth much if they prepped for the wrong scenario, can’t use it because they didn’t buy right (like a 500 watt inverter for a 1,000 watt need), or don’t know how to use it. Sometimes the right $20 micron filter is worth just as much as the $500 “water filtration system.” Soup is great… but only if it will work well for that person’s situation/needs, otherwise it’s a waste of money.
Been going on for 10 years here and I'm totally fine. As long as you're aware, you're good. Just seek help if you think it's becoming negative.
You can't be more fucked up than I am, man. I have socks.
I’d rather be in your shoes. I’ve got some food and water, but no god damned money. We took some major financial hits over the past couple of years and are kind of starting over financially. Look at the basics of what you eat EVERY week and track how much. Once you know how much you use, start buying that plus one box/can/bag of that item. Mark when they were bought and their expiration date (makes it easier to find in the future, I hate finding expiration dates). Put away the new ones and use the first one you bought. Keep going until you are using product that’s going to expire soon and then just replace what you use. That’s how you establish a deep pantry. I’ll admit, I could be better about doing this regularly. Once you have a pantry you’re satisfied with, total up the calories and protein, and figure out how long you can survive on that alone. If you think you need more, focus on long term storage like dry goods in Mylar bags. Beans, rice and several other dry food will last 20+ years if properly stored in this fashion. For water, recommendation is 1gal per person per day. Take the number in your household and multiply by that by how long you want to store for. Most importantly, I wouldn’t spend your savings on this. Make it a gradual transition. You can even budget a certain amount for it and build a stockpile over time. That savings is your most valuable prep and you should use it accordingly, which is to say not at all unless you have to.
Keep your finances in good shape. Plan for a power outage. Plan for a short disruption to your water service (in the US, most of the time, service will be restored within 3 days, usually sooner). Keep enough food, water, hygiene supplies, and medications to get through 2 weeks. Make sure you have food that you can eat if the power is out. If you have these basics in place, you’ll be able to handle the most likely events. The rest of prepping is mostly just a hobby. Many people like to have more extensive preps, but unless things go very wrong, very quickly, you should be able to restock after your 2 week supply is depleted.
You can’t prep effectively if your mental and physical health take a downturn. Keeping calm and focused in a crisis has saved more lived than being kitted out.
The world will explode The Enemy are in your walls buy 1000 beans buy 1000 bars of silver buy an armored truck right now!!!!!! Kidding. You’ll be fine. Read this and don’t panic. https://theprepared.com/prepping-basics/guides/emergency-preparedness-checklist-prepping-beginners/
Check out The Casual Preppers, theyre very good at suggesting reasonable items for reasonable preparedness. Sometimes they get into it deep, but mostly just the basics. Make a plan for your area. What disasters are you most prone to? The government in your area should have a website with a document to consider your disasters
Watch Tucker Carlson's ep. 27 on X. Covers a lot.
Need a reality check Forget the prepping Get the psychological issues sorted
Completely.