Survival Psychology

In recent years, there have been significant advances in survival training and technology, but disasters still kill many people quickly. How do you survive a disaster? Why do so many people die when they could have been saved? How do some people manage to survive in extremely difficult conditions, sometimes after months or years of ordeal?

In his book, The Psychology of Survival, John Leach attempts to answer these questions by examining the psychology of human survival and how groups and individuals behave before, during, and after life-threatening events. He examines both the short-term and long-term aspects of survival, as well as the psychological effects of hunger, thirst, cold, heat, crowding, isolation, fatigue, and sleep deprivation. The essence of this work is to define the principles of psychological first aid for use in the field.

This book, intended as an ABC of survival, draws on a wide variety of sources: the author's own experience in hostile environments, including deserts, the Arctic, the Polar Regions, above and below the waves, at high altitudes, in caves, and in military environments; his own field and laboratory research; the work of other researchers, authors, and journalists; emergency responders, engineers, mental health workers, police, and military personnel; and, above all, the personal accounts of survivors—both sexes, of all ages, and of all nationalities—who, over the years, allowed the author to interview them, formally and informally, in order to better understand the psychology of survival.

John Leach is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow in Survival Psychology at the Extreme Environments Research Group (University of Portsmouth). He has a BA (Hons) in Psychology (University of London) and a PhD in Applied Neurocognition (Lancaster University), where he became a Lecturer and later Director of Research in Cognitive Psychology. His research focuses on the cognitive and neurocognitive aspects of survival, human behaviour in extreme situations and, in particular, the process by which people die under duress without cause.