Survival Psychology

by John Leach

'...it should be made standard reading for those dealing with disaster/survival situations, it is also very informative in helping the general reader understand the psychology of survivors...The text makes compulsive reading and the book is hard to put down. It is worth examining, no matter where your professional interest lies.'- Duncan MacPaul, Nursing Times. Why do so many people die without need? How can an exceptional few survive extraordinarily harsh conditions sometimes after months or years of deprivation? Recent years have seen remarkable improvements in survival training and technology, yet most people still perish quickly in the face of adversity. In this book John Leach seeks to answer these questions by considering the psychology of human survival; how groups and individuals behave before, during and after life threatening events. Both short and long-term survival are addressed as well as the psychological consequences of hunger, thirst, cold, heat, crowding, isolation, fatigue and sleep deprivation. The essence of this work is distilled into a set of principles for psychological first-aid for use in the field.

Genres: Survival, Psychology, Nonfiction, History

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Katherine Addison · Rating 4 out of 5]

[library]

This is a dry (occasionally dryly funny) textbook-ish discussion of the psychology of survival. Leach defines all his terms, talks through them carefully, considers all angles. It is the exact opposite of The Survivors Club, in terms of attitude and realism. Leach is clinical (he does not shy away from the word "victim") and starkly realistic (i.e., not handing out little badges that say SURVIVOR to everyone who wants one); interestingly, he, too, ends with the observation that some people survive disasters and come out stronger and happier on the other side--this comes, however, after a considerably longer discussion of PTSD and psychological upheaval. Obviously I prefer this approach, even though it is a little uncomfortable, especially when he's talking about the prevalence of denial and inactivity among people who know a disaster could be or outright is coming. I look at my own failures in tornado preparedness (when tornadoes do happen where I live) and cringe. "Denial and inactivity," says Leach, "prepare people well for the roles of victim and corpse."

If you're interested in how people behave during disasters and why some people survive and others don't, this is definitely the place to start.

[Sheehan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every Fall I try to take a bit of time to disaster/contingency plan for the coming year; all suggest planning is crucial to success in times of crisis. Knowing this, I still frequently neglect the "soft" aspects of emergency event triage, the mind and emotions of crisis; reading this book was a means of addressing this knowledge gap.

Very clearly written and using many anecdotal and psychological studies, the author paints a good survey of the various stages of cataclysmic events and the ways in which most people react to them. The appendix shorthand lists for triage in crisis has been duly photocopied and added to the house emergency binder. Furthermore, the small but explicit portion on mitigating duress to children in turmoil was indispensable, and included some intuitive, but as yet unknown to me aspects like: Project calm, kids behavior will mirror your own; never allow a child to be separated from a parent if possible, and provide "touch" and token comforts when possible.

Like all prep resources, I hope to never have to use them, but I sure as hell want to be an asset for myself, family and others and not a mess when bad times come calling.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genuinely fascinating exploration of the psychology behind survival. Whether it be from the survivor's perspective, the rescuer's perspective, the duration, and type of disaster.

The gist is
- Break survival down into small, achievable tasks with an end goal in mind and then execute them. Fail to do so, and wander aimlessly around until dead.
- Get support from those around you

So a microcosm of normal life mostly.

Not as dry as you would think, either

"Steven Callahan helped to ease the tension of struggling alone in a life-raft with humour and cynical jokes. A number of fish called Dorados had been shadowing his life-raft for some days. On the 11th day adrift he wrote on a notepad which served as a log: 'The Dorados remain, beautiful, alluring. I asked one to marry me. But her parents will not hear of it. I am not colourful enough. Imagine, bigotry even here! However, they also point out that I do not have a very bright future. It is a reasonable objection.'"

[Teresa Hildebrandt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Health care practitioners should skip. Basic information.
This sums it up.
"The key psychological factors found in survivors have been described as establishing a mission, tasking, attachment, prayer, personal character, humour, active-passiveness, adaptation and consolidation."

[JC · Rating 3 out of 5]

clinical, potentially dated, but cogent at least, with useful summaries at the close of each chapter

[Jorun Bork · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, including material that lead to a titillating discussion between my colleagues and I; how to pronounce 'give-up-itis' ('give up I-tis' or 'give up it is'). Although, I felt that the book should include less case studies, and include more material regarding brain functioning.