Lost

I read an article about what happens when a person gets lost. I thought it was interesting because even though it was written to apply to my day job, it was good information for writing. Many of the things discussed apply to both literal and figurative "being lost." I've even experienced these myself, probably more frequently than is healthy since I'm a worrier and I get lost in my own thoughts.

When lost, hikers experience a number of fears. The longer they're lost, the more and worse fears they experience:

• Fear of being alone,
• Fear of darkness,
• Fear of animals, specifically predators,
• Fear of suffering, and
• Fear of dying - Thinking about a life undone, who will take care of their family, and what people will say once they're gone.

I can extrapolate these to other situations. If a character is confused or worried, they might believe no one can understand them (fear of being alone). If a character is facing something they don't want to, they might fear the unknown (fear of darkness). In a book, a character might even face a real fear of death and worry about the things I've listed.

If allowed to continue worrying, a person will start to act irrationally. They'll push ahead further and get off track. They'll experience spatial disorientation. They'll ignore risks, failing to make fire, getting rid of critical supplies, ignoring search aircraft, and more. When lost, rational thought is hard to maintain. People devolve through certain emotions:

• Panic
• Frustration
• Anger
• Depression/withdrawal
• Fatigue
• Forgetfulness

There's a proper way to behave when you're lost. Following the rules will keep you from becoming more lost, keep you alive longer, and increase the chances that you're found. I find it fascinating because it seems that the more resilient characters--i.e. the ones we want to read about because they make good protagonists--will do these things intuitively. Maybe they'll go through a crisis of faith at some point, but in order to overcome everything and beat the Big Bad Antagonist in the climax, they have to figuratively:

• Create a positive attitude,
• Administer first aid to those who need it. In a group setting, this bonds people together.
• Find shelter. This creates a safety net, someplace that they can go to and diminish their fears.
• Create fire. This gives them a sense of control over the environment.
• Create a signal for a search party. This creates a goal: To be rescued.
• Find water and food. This is the last on the list because it's the most basic. The other items are how you survive mentally, which says a lot about the human mind.

The article even suggests that children are better at staying alive until they're rescued than adults.  They're better at inuitively knowing that they need to STOP: Stop, Think, Observe, and Plan.

I thought this was an interesting glimpse into the human mind. It's something I want to keep in mind as I develop characters and plot lines.