Symptoms
Daily life with Schizophrenia for me is to be constantly in fear of something. If not for my family and church, I would be very lonely as I have no car or regular job.
My church is great but other people know so little about mental illness especially Schizophrenia. There is really nowhere I can point to online or in a book to read that will not either be incomprehensible technically to non-medical readers, call for treatment not endorsed by mainstream medicine, or those who do not believe that Schizophrenia is really a disease at all.
One of the biggest ways that Schizophrenia affects me differently is that I do not suffer from the symptom psychiatrists call disorganized thought. Disorganized thought makes it almost impossible to write anything coherent. But in addition I can read to an extent and still have a sense of humor.
But the paranoia is strong in me and I hear audio hallucinations (voices) as well. So I always look to worst case scenarios when encountering problems. This does not mean that I am not right about my concerns and we have to consider now that most people are paranoid about something. The entire political system and media are based on generating fear.
Technology and Security
I have spent several decades reading about technology and designing my website. I see a digital dark age coming on us as we depend too much on computers and especially the Internet. The big difference today compared to 5-10 years ago is that we have a a proliferation of hacking tools from the US and Russia to organized crime and everyday people. The tools nations use to spy on or hack each other are now used for crimes of all kinds.
Most crime now has gone online now as it is cheaper, easier, and you are less likely to get caught. Almost no government, business, or non-profit of any size has any interest in guarding our information because they are making so much money off of it. Most people in technology so not have enough training to do their jobs correctly and few are aware of how vulnerable we are.
The direct result of US hacking the rest of the world now is that the same technology and skills are being used to make money off hospitals, schools, and local governments in inner city and rural districts who notoriously have poor security as they have low budgets for securing their technology.
Disaster Survival Basics
I also spend a lot of my time stockpiling things for the End of the World as We Know It. I started preparing for disasters in 2008 during the economic crisis. I first focused on gathering supplies that would last a long time and would work without any electricity. Later I started stockpiling books, craft supplies, and games to keep my busy when I cannot get my computer to work or I cannot leave the house due to paranoia of the day or an actual disaster.
Many people do not know this but the most important thing necessary to survive in a crisis is not supplies or even skills. The most important factor is what I learned in Boy Scouts as a positive mental attitude. Anything that helps you lower your stress is the most important supply to have.
People have been known to survive without any supplies or skills while others with supplies and skills don’t do well. The most important thing you can learn is how not to panic. This usually means slowing down and allowing more time for everything than you think you need.
Another important way to prepare is to be aware of what is going on locally and in your neighborhood. In preparing do not buy anything that requires electricity or is not portable.
Survival Problem Solving
One of the first problems occurs when the electricity goes down completely for an extended period of time. This problem is that people still use the flush toilet instead of using a bucket with cat litter in it. Your family may keep from doing so possibly but your neighbors will not. Also there is not enough room on most properties to keep your outhouse far enough away to maintain sanitary conditions. This means you will be forced to relocate.
Very few people can survive in the wilderness via hunting or trapping even if there is a huge die off. Long term survival assuming most people do not die off will require farming. Almost everyone will need to be a farmer to produce enough food. Modern medicine will not exist but neither will most diseases we currently die of today. This is because we will not have access to enough animals products like meat and dairy to slowly kill ourselves.
The biggest security problem will likely be wild dogs and cougars at least in more rural areas. One of the best protection methods for this threat is pepper spray. When you gather supplies, take a little at a time and focus on books and skills, not food and perishables. Anytime you have to travel most your weight will be in water you need to carry. Also remember water bottles are only safe to drink for 6 months after purchase.
One of the biggest questions is do you want to do the things you need to survive?
No Politics
I do not recommend getting involved in politics. It sounds unAmerican to not focus on government change for problem solving, but we have little power to change things.
The reason why policies are so hard to change in any institution is because someone powerful wants things to be as they are now. They have no interest in changing for any reason. Most institutional problems tend to be spiritual in nature anyway and cannot be affected much by changing leadership. This is because the problem is often in the middle of the management chain.
One of the problems with politics is it is competitive. One person wins and the other loses. The winner wins at the expense of the loser. This is similar to how wars work and the general story of economics throughout history. This is why I am not a fan of any kind of competition.
There is a reason 1/2 of American do not vote. The American church is so focused on changing things about politics but this was not what Jesus did.