The area I am touching upon in this might be considered sensitive, but I broach it in all seriousness. I am a former Girl Scout Leader and an Explorer (are they around anymore?) and I have seen the effects of one person on a group, be that group two, or twenty. Mental depression is something that is, in my opinion a huge sabatuer to Survival. As is anger, rash behavior and so on, that is a direct result of that depression and/or chemical imbalance.<br> <br>The two that I have seen most are PMS and manic depressiveness. Starting with PMS, it would be easy to lightly dismiss this as not all that important. However, I speak from first hand knowledge that my reactions are Not normal during this time frame. When one is in a serious survival situation where you have to depend on others, having them wig out for even a few minutes can mean really dire circumstances. It could tilt your chances for survival.<br> <br>I have looked through the kits here, and nothing really touches on this, yet to me it's very important. Midol is a common OTC drug, which can be used by anyone, not just for pain relief and reducing mental anxiety, but a muscle relaxant as well. (Ask my hubby about his recent back injury, thank goodness he wasn't silly enough to dismiss this drug, as it eased his pain greatly until we got him to the doctor.) <br> <br>If this is too much redundancy in some opinions (as in you believe your pain relievers that you carry will suffice), at the very least include something like St John's Wort, which is also an OTC herbal remedy that helps reduce mental anxiety. That would also serve the second problem of manic depressiveness, which both male and females suffer from. There may be other aids out there, I'd love to hear about them. <br> <br>I know survival is a strong instinct, but sometimes the situation that threw you into a survival mode could have caused circumstances such as the death of a loved one, or very low odds for recovery. I've heard of people surviving seemingly insurmountable odds, and I've seen others faced with very little problems just give up. It was the mental attitude I think that drove both those boats, so to speak.<br> <br>Anyway, that's my bid for taking mental health as just another thing to account for, a matter of fact and a matter of life. Not something that is an afterthought. ;)<br><br>Catherine<br>"On the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions who, on the verge of victory, sat down to rest, and, while resting, died."<br><br><br>A short ps to the above: Upon bouncing this off of Doug, he brought up the point that these items should be in the personal care kit. A survival situation could create these strong emotions in people who normally don't exhibit this behavior though, so they might not have thought of the addition. Just an idea anyways, cause I love a good discussion! ;)<br><br>

My limited experience in the Coast Guard and academic training in Anthropology give me a different view.Silver Bullets are great in werewolf movies,but the ballistics are awful in reality. We feel everyone has to act like John Wayne and ridicule the Barney Fifes of the world.Even our closest social relatives, the wolves have both an ALPHA and OMEGA packmember. I've observed that establishing a routine and reassuring people works wonders. You don't have to promise a helicopter by lunch. I once 'rescued' a hysterical young boy in the water. We were both wearing survival suits. I told him I could'nt get us safely ashore due to the heavy surf,but we would be O.K. until the distant Helicopter's standard search pattern brought them to our position. He calmed down instantly,which bettered my demeaner. I had watched the Movie JAWS the prior evening, and a seal kept brushing my legs! <br><br>

To start, let me respond with the following that we had discussed earlier:<br><br>My POV is that anyone who might be subject to PMS or being teated for depression should include or carry their own choice of medicine, OTC or prescription, under "personal medications." If it was a family survival kit and one or more of the family were taking such meds, they would be packed as part of personal meds section.<br><br>It is certainly worthy of consideration as to whether you should include something for PMS in a more general survival kit with indeterminate users. In fact, I've added this to the list of items for consideration when we update our Arizona Wing CAP survival kits in the not too distant future. We already include feminine sanitary products for both their given use and as a first aid item. What advantage it may or may not have over the standard three OTC analgesics we already include is questionable.<br><br>I'm not too sure what can be done regarding depression. That's far too complicated a disease to be trying some drug of unknown reaction on someone. I'd have to say that anyone using such drugs had best plan to carry their own meds. <br><br>I asked my consulting docs about this issue and here's what they had to say: <br><br>There is nothing, including St. John's, which will work fast enough to counteract depression whatever the cause except for amphetamines or cocaine. Hopefully, the person who has depression related PMS or manic depression is already on meds and should continue taking them. If they are not on meds and have one of these problems, treatment starting suddenly just is not going to work.<br><br>Doug Ritter<br>Editor<br>Equipped To Survive

Let me add my opinion (based on a 25+year clinical practice).<br><br>St. John's Wort (if it works... and there is serious doubt) as well as the SSRI type drugs for depression should take 7-21 days to start working for the depression. Anything sooner is either side-effect or placebo effect.<br><br>If the person IS Manic Depressive, St. John's wort and/or prescription antidepressants may precipitate a Manic episode (this is called "kindling"). They should never be started in the field without knowing how the person will react to them.<br><br>Abrupt discontinuation of many of the antidepressants can trigger "discontinuation syndrome"... which you don't want to have to deal with in the field. So continuation of these medications for people on them is very, very important.<br><br>Believe me, I do this mental health gig for a living and I personally wouldn't include any of the drugs under discussion in any kit for the use of a person who wasn't already safely on them before the survival situation.<br><br>

It should go without saying that attempting to use amphetamines or cocaine to counteract depression in a survival situation would be a really bad idea. So just in case somebody out there might mis-interpret the comment in Doug's previous post, please do NOT attempt to use these dangerous drugs.<br><br>

I suppose you're right, it's probably a mistake to over estimate the intelligence or commons sense of some of those who are reading these posts. Sorry if we caused anyone any concern.<br><br>Doug Ritter<br>Editor<br>Equipped To Survive