Why the terms survivalist and prepper are misnomers
Most people will blithely live their lives as long as they feel minimal stress. Their day to day activities will consume the majority of their thoughts and energy, so since they feel they have no time, they won't prepare a surplus. Because they've become some version of a specialist, they won't learn old skills like their ancestors. That way is old fashioned and seems illogical to them and counter-productive since it means losings some of their free time for watching television or other entertainment. Entertainment is vital to them, because they are enslaved and frustrated.
There are some people who are motivated because they've noticed some terrible things happening, and even though terrible things ALWAYS happen, their focus upon them will unbalance them. They may decide that the best way to cope is learn ways of offensive and defensive actions. They may spend an inordinate amount of time buying the best knife. They may have many varieties of weapons, both short and long range, plus ammunition and spare parts. I can't be too critical about them, for many were former military personnel and they know just how chaotic things can happen in a collapse. These folks often are survivalists, and that's what they're trying to do, survive until the chaos ends.
Other people are preppers. Almost anyone can be a prepper now a days as it seems like every grandma that has a water filter and some seeds and books and a month of food ...and is labeled a prepper. Of course they may be out of shape and can't walk two miles on flat clear terrain without stopping. They have a sense of how bad things can get, but may have no military background, but read a lot, and have maybe two or three skills that they are in the process of learning.
After a collapse, the amount of time to adjust to an entirely new style of living will be for a lengthy period. It won't be short term probably. It won't be about repelling invaders for three months or living off of a month or two of supplies. What it may be about is living for a sustained period of time in a mode of self-reliance. Self-reliance means protecting yourself, growing crops, gathering both animal and plant and water sources, raising animals, making things that you once bought, and living in harmony with your environment.
That last aspect happens because if you don't live in harmony with the community, the creatures and species of your environment, and with your self, then you'll die. The stress, the loneliness, the lack of love and friendship, the loss of a critical resource, no available trade for the things you can't make or lack the ability to learn, or simply theft and violence, will kill you.
Life is not about survival. That is the basic lowest form of living. It is drudgery and attrition will eventually make one lose Hope. It's why being a survivalist is not enough.
Life is not about prepping. You can't prep for everything, because of Murphy's Law, something always happens that throws you a curve ball. Even if you were an excellent prepper, then those supplies will run out.
Life is about living abundantly. How that manifests for you is based upon your level of health. If you are mentally calm and can respond appropriately, then you can live. If you are physically fit and can perform your labors and passions, then you'll be happier, for only doing work will not be enough. If you have friendship and love, then that means that you live in some tribe or community, and there is an exchange of ideas, culture, romance, kinship, respect, honor, and affirmation.
That community is healthy when each of the members is self-reliant and the interplay of their abilities and talents is synergestic. Because of that, the community repels a strong force that invades. The community harvests the abundance when it comes in from the hunt, or the annual harvest of livestock, or the salting and preserving of food sources, or putting up a young married couple's barn. But, all of that happens with skills and talents, and this cannot be ignored.
Don't be like the first two groups, no matter that they both are well intentioned, but walk a little further into the Green of the Forest, and step off the paths of other humans, and learn to live in harmony as every other species does.
Yes, there are some advanced people with high levels of skills, an understanding of the arts of War, and who have inventories or supplies, and they can live alone. Their number is very small, but because of their proficiency, you may have read about one or two that could raise a huge amount of surplus on a small scale homestead. There aren't many that fit into that category, don't fool yourself that you are one of them. Don't exaggerate their numbers.
There are some well meaning folks, often very philosophical, often vegetarian, who live that way in a highly specialized society where their foods are shipped from remote areas. Often they can be very mentally balanced and enjoyable to be around. I have found that some like the lifestyle so much that they intentionally grow crops and consume them. However, I haven't met any locally that could raise enough to feed themselves. Most do not have stores of supplies. Most do not have defensive capabilities, nor what to. They are reticent to living in harmony as the creatures do, but prefer to live in harmony as they think humans should do.
The wolf doesn't think, “Hmmm brother mouse is a sentient species that should be spared..., I'll eat some dandelions and groundnuts”. Nature is not like that. Living in harmony means to find a niche that deliberately settles into a pattern, and because of that, that species can survive and thrive. Should their numbers increase too greatly, they mostly die because they have exceeded the carrying capacity. If they are low on the food chain, then a species higher up that is predatory will eat from their abundant numbers. If the predatory species eats too many, then the dearth of the other species will mean hunger, malnutrition, and death unless the predatory species relocates. Since relocation is an energy intensive activity that is risky at best, that usually fails, and many of them die.
This balancing act maintains all of the species in that region into a harmony. Creatures die and new ones are born, and it's stable. It's a balance that is usually well maintained unless some major keystone species, almost always human enters the environment.