Coping with the Zombie Apocalypse: Lessons From The Walking Dead

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Recommended: Short note on anxiety

Fear itself is seldom a cause of trauma in everyday existence, but having to face close-range interpersonal aggression is a traumatic experience of an entirely different magnitude (Grossman). During the initial outbreak of terror while everyone is scrambling to save his or her own life, survival mode kicks in and an individual starts to plan on saving one’s self. The need to be a powerful motivator drives an average person to do what any normal person would consider unthinkable. Abandoning monsters plaguing the entire world, helping others in need, or deciding to save one’s self is a decision that will be made. The decision to save one’s own life will bring a person to question his own humanity while discovering the benefits of self- preservation and learning to piece life back together to start again.
When faced with traumatic experiences, a person needs to fight to hold on to the small things in life: a sense of security, a thriving community, and a sense of belonging. In the series The Walking Dead the community members depend on each other for moral and emotional support, almost achieving a sense of family. The solution to the fore mentioned problem could only be achieved after the initial chaos of the zombie apocalypse. In The Walking Dead the survivors work together to rebuild what was left of society. Each person needs to find a way to move forward and learn to deal with the traumatic experiences that were faced during the chaos and realize one’s humanity is in fact still intact. Traumatic events usually follow with a syndrome called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder where a person experiences psychological effects caused by constant trauma that involves a threat to life or may cause death (Smith and Segal). After experienc...

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...dy on a constant basis; however ,in the end, overcoming these issues and grabbing hold of what humanity is left a person can rebuild life and become strong individuals and live life to the fullest.

Works Cited

Anders, Carmen “Fighting zombies- and our own Fears”. Mennoworld.org. n.p.
2013.web. Nov. 2013
Grossman, Dave. “On Killing: The Phsycological Cost of Learning to kill in War and
Society”. Killology Research Group. Warrior Science Group. 2000.Web.18Nov.2013
Mogk, Matt. Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Zombies. New York: Gallery of Books, 2011. Print.
Murphy, David P. PHZ. Ace Your Zombie Exam.Ilinois. Sourcebooks Inc. 2011. Print.
Smith, Melinda and Jeanne, Segal. “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)”.
Helpguide.org. n.p. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
“The Title of the episode”. The Walking Dead. AMC. 15 Nov. 2013.Television.

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