To be worried that these random terrorist attacks are our new way of life?

[Cguk81]

Having just seen the news about another horrific attack at a shopping mall in Munich I can't help but feel that this is becoming a way of life from now on. Will it ever come to an end or is it just going to get worse and worse and something we are all going to have to live with. I find it so terrifying.
And as I'm typing this I can hear Donald Trump's acceptance speech for the presidential nomination on the news which makes the future seem even more terrifying. How can I stop living in fear of the future? I feel like taking my family and heading for the hills.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Yeah but the hills are alive

With the sound of music

[WingDefence]

It's similar to the IRA attacks and threats that we lived through previously though. I was working in London at the time and we just got used to looking out for suspicious packages and having to get off the tube at a moment's notice because of another bomb scare. It just became a way of life.

Saying that though, the current form of terrorism doesn't 'do' warnings and it seems harder to predict so I'm glad I'm not in London any more, tbh :(

[SilverDragonfly1]

You will get tons of straight talking on here, but of course it's not unreasonable to be worried! I've really just posted to say that I feel much the same, but have found keeping a journal of what's going on- factual rather than feelings- is helping me cope better. Initially I thought that dwelling on things in that way would make me worse but actually it helps keep things in proportion a bit more and helps me sort out which of my worries are actually reasonable and can be addressed and which are just pointless and making me ill.

[CuppaBiccieBliss]

Laurie

[LaurieFairyCake]

Cuppa

[MrsFrankieHeck]

I don't get it Laurie, are you making a joke?

[CuppaBiccieBliss]

Exactly MrsFrankie, totally inappropriate

[HopeClearwater]

We lived through this in the 1970s (and subsequently) with the IRA

[Cakedoesntjudge]

I was speaking to someone about this the other day - every time I hear about something new happening I still find it unbelievably sad but I don't get the wave of shock anymore. I've found it easier to adopt my dad's approach which is - just keep carrying on doing things you normally would, because everywhere seems to be on high alert so you're in just as much danger at home as you are anywhere else. When he first said that to me a year or so ago I couldn't understand how he could have that attitude but now I find it much easier.

I sincerely hope that one day someone will find a way to change the current status quo but it is beyond me how it will ever stop 😔

[Dragongirl10]

I totally understand your feelings, yes the world feels like a scary place and l cannot see it changing anytime soon.
The trouble is religious extremism is hard to stamp out and their hatred of a western lifestyle knows no bounds.
Statistically you are pretty unlikely to get caught up in a terror attack but the random nature of the attacks, understandably creates a lot of fear.

Also it is impossible to win a war against people who are willing to kill themselves to kill lots of other innocent people. l think so far our surveilance and policing survices have done a good job of preventing attacks, long may that continue.

I guess we just have to find ways to live with this and stay calm.

[tiredandhungryalways]

I know exactly what you mean, yanbu at all and wonder what I have bought my children into. Will probably get told it's safest time in history to have kids but doesn't feel that way

[LaurieFairyCake]

Yes, I was making a joke as the op said 'run for the hills'.

On a more serious note if you're suffering from anxiety (and I think the world 'feels' more dangerous right now but isn't empirically obviously) then think about mindfulness, therapy, more exercise, avoiding the news.

[Unicornsarelovely]

Probably it is the new normal but it is still a lot safer than any other period in history except possibly for a very brief stint between the NI peace treaty and 9/11.

Bear in mind that you're hearing about this because of 24 hour news which helps ramp up the terror and insecurity. Even 50 years ago it would have been a week before you knew it had happened....

[MollyTwo]

Very inappropriate Laurie.

Op Yanbu, it really is worrying what's happening now

[Cguk81]

I knew what you meant Laurie . I wish my biggest worry was falling arse over tit as I run through a meadow singing with my family!

I'm an 80's child so I wasn't massively aware of the IRA growing up. It must have been awful.
Now with the Internet and social media the news is reported much quicker and easier so things feels like they are happening on your doorstep.
I'm trying to rationalise that the odds of anything to my family are so small but the future just seems scary to me.
silverdragon and cakedoesntjudge I will try your suggestions, thanks.

[Throughautomaticdoors]

Ds is 7 and has a trip to London next term...I'm already thinking I don't want him to go. He seems so little to be sending off without me to somewhere like London. I know the chances of anything happening are low but it seems more worrying without me and in a big group somehow. I'm hoping they won't go.
Possibly by then there will have been an attack here anyway. Let's face it, it's only a matter of time.

[ABloodyDifficultWoman]

Sadly I think you are right Through - awful as it is and as much as I wish I didn't have this thought - statistically it's bound to be London next/very soon. Quite where all this is going end is unclear - but it's not going to be nice.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

A question to those who think that Laurie why was she inappropriate?

It is a very British thing to make fun of such situations.

[Believeitornot]

I feel like we are in more danger - as someone who works in London as does my dh.

I tried to reassure myself that in the uk we've not had recent events like that of Nice or Munich but part of me thinks it is just a matter of time.

I too want to run for the hills. I'm now finding myself scoping out how I would escape if something kicked off. I was sat outside a pub yesterday evening and felt terribly exposed :(

[Stickerrocks]

School trips to mainland Europe are particularly frightening at the moment, because you're having to put your trust in other people to look after your child. You know the likelihood of a problem is tiny, but there is still the fear that they will be in the wrong place at the wrong time without you there to try to protect them.

[Gardencentregroupie]

People are very poor at risk perception. Things that are massively more likely to kill you (like, thousands or tens of thousands of times more likely) include coronary heart disease, lung cancer, road traffic accidents. But we still drive, and tolerate smoking, and skip that gym session. Terrorist attacks make the news because they're rare and shocking in a way that 'overweight 70 year old male's heart fails' just isn't.

I've been in Belfast and London when there were terrorist attacks in both cities. I'm still here. I was in the air in a plane on September 11, and I flew again the next day. Still fine. Even Belfast is a big place, the chances of you being in that place at that time are teeny tiny. You just cannot live your life afraid of something that almost certainly won't affect you, your anxiety will cripple you and you'll be so scared fr your life you'll miss out on living.

[NK346f2849X127d8bca260]

My child is in Munich on a school trip, just received text from school to say they have been taken to a place of safety.

[blinkowl]

This is what happens if we go round bombing civilians and selling weapons to other countries who do the same. It breeds terrorism.

If we want our DC's future to be safer we need to stop voting for war mongers and people who profit - directly or indirectly - from the arms industry. It's not just Trump, it's people like Theresa May too, and Owen Smith for that matter.

Also having leaders who are serious about tackling climate change could make a huge difference. There is an environmental aspect to the troubles we're seeing around the world, see these articles for example:

Why Climate Change and Terrorism Are Connected
"U.S. military officials refer to climate change as a “threat multiplier” that takes issues like terrorism that would pose a threat to national security and exacerbates the damage they can cause."

GROWING CONNECTION BETWEEN CLIMATE CHANGE, TERRORISM AFFECTS POLITICS
"The military and intelligence communities agree that climate change is real and destabilizing."

Bill Nye: Paris Terrorist Attacks Linked to Climate Change

“It’s very reasonable that the recent trouble in Paris is a result of climate change,” said Nye, ... “There is a water shortage in Syria —small and medium farmers have abandoned their farms because there’s not enough water, not enough rainfall. And especially the ... young people have gone to the big cities looking for work."

"There's not enough work for everybody, so the disaffected youths ... are more easily engaged and more easily recruited by terrorist organizations, and then they end up part way around the world in Paris shooting people," Nye said.

" ... this is just the start of things. The more we let this go on, the more trouble there’s going to be. You can say, ‘We’ll stamp out the terrorists,’ but everybody’s leaving their farms because of water shortages, that’s a little, bigger problem.”

[Stickerrocks]

I'm a risk management specialist, but parents are designed to worry about everything from how much/little their baby eats to whether their DC has done their homework. It's in the job description! At least the IRA used to give a 5 minute warning.