Anxiety THROUGH THE ROOF - Russia

[bubble321]

Hi all, extremely sorry if this isn't the best section to post in but oh my gosh. I've just got the children to bed and cannot stop shaking and crying. My anxiety is sky high. I am so terrified of a world war 3 happening and I can't shake the idea. I've just pictured sending my kids off to be evacuated and keep having break downs. Aware to most people this probably seems OTT but I suffer with quite extreme health anxiety as it is. I have extremely minimal knowledge with all this talk on war etc. How likely do you think a nuclear war is? If I read a post like this from someone else I would be but I really don't know where else to worry/ look for reassurance

I think we have to remember what it must feel like to be a mother in Ukraine, and if they can hold their nerve and show resilience then so can we, given we are thousands of miles away and in no danger.

We need to stay calm. We can't be reacting like this, this is precisely what Putin wants. The whole world talking and paying attention to him.
He is a twisted little jerk who has run out of road and is looking for a legacy, that is it. One little man creating a very big drama.

This is not about us, and our anxiety - this is about Ukraine, and maybe focusing on what we can do to help once he invades will help. I am planning to go to Poland with my teens to help out with the inevitable refugees centres. Can you light candles for them? Can you offer support in other ways?

Constantly focusing on your own reaction won't help. Focus on supporting those in Ukraine. The world is not going to put up Putin for much longer, that much I do know. He is another Hitler, and we learnt a great deal the first time around about appeasement.

Instead of not reading the news, I’d suggest you actually do read the news - from a proper serious journalist source. A serious newspaper can lay out the facts and scenarios without scaremongering. Knowledge of what is actually happening can dissipate nightmare fears.

@daisypond Can you recommend a reliable, non scaremongering news source? I'm yet to find one!

I get that for some people with anxiety it might be best to avoid the news if it is making you ill. But regarding the comments about the media just scaremongering, how do you want journalists to report it? Do you want them to tone it down? Reporting BJ's comments about the worst conflict since 1945 isn't scaremongering, it's reporting his comments. TBH honest I have seen far more scaremongering on MN than on the news!

The telegraph has been useful, they seem to outline the issues very clearly and without much emotion or drama.

@youboozeyoulose

I get that for some people with anxiety it might be best to avoid the news if it is making you ill. But regarding the comments about the media just scaremongering, how do you want journalists to report it? Do you want them to tone it down? Reporting BJ's comments about the worst conflict since 1945 isn't scaremongering, it's reporting his comments. TBH honest I have seen far more scaremongering on MN than on the news!

They do scaremonger though. Remember not too long ago with covid. I don't believe a word the news or boris Johnson says.

I don't believe much BJ says either but he is the PM and his comments need to be reported.

Television news tends to stick to the facts. News websites on the other hand do not need to adhere to the same rules and therefore some sensationalise matters.

Nuclear war isn't going to happen. This conflict has largely been created by western governments and they know they can back off if necessary.

Your biggest problem, by a country mile, isn't what's happening in Ukraine, it's your health. You really need to take ownership of that and get yourself some help.

@oldwhyno Thank you so much. I have started taking Sertraline and awaiting an appointment for CBT therapy x

@bubble321 well done. In the meantime, make sure you do what you can to reduce symptoms. I'm sure you don't need me to say, but e.g. sleeping and eating well, a little bit of exercise, not too much alcohol and caffeine, fresh air and nature etc. These things really all do contribute.

Personally I also find it's far better to focus on things I do have control over, especially things I can actually fix. Even if they aren't the most important things, just making a list and working through it ticking things off does me the world of good.

I agree with the pp poster who suggested actually reading non sensationalist news can be helpful rather than avoiding altogether.

It sounds ridiculous, but I actually get my news from Instagram. I follow a journalist who reads all the papers and posts short non sensationalist summaries on her stories. There are no scary anxiety inducing headlines to wade through first and she will often link to a variety of articles and generally just offer a balanced a selection, calling out the click bait scaremongering headlines. Her name is byvickysmith on insta but sure there are others. Simple politics also good.

I think this is all about your mental health op, and not the war in Ukraine that hasn't started yet. If it were not this, it would be something else.

I would add this conflict has NOT been caused by western governments old!!! This conflict has been created by a psychopathic imperialist Putin trying desperately to bring the USSR back to life! It is very disingenuous of you to appear to be concerned about op, all the while peddling Russian propaganda.

I'm thinking of deleting the BBC app now. Can anyone recommend a non scare mongering news app?

@bubble321 and @TheUnquestionedAnswer, how about a good news app like this? I've found it really helps balance all the usual scaremongering mainstream media crap.

What helped me was realising I couldn't do anything about preventing a war, and probably very little if one actually happened. And as I had no control there was simply no point in worrying about it. I have a philosophy not to worry about stuff I can't control, or worry about stuff that's happened (can't change the past).

@ThePlantsitter

I keep telling myself - I notice they didn't do this when Trump was president...

Yeah cos Trump would have been mad enough to nuke them back !

You won’t regret it. Sertraline got me out of a dark place with her math anxiety and I know if I wasn’t taking it now I’d be going down a rabbit hole worrying about nuclear war too. I’m still concerned and tend to feed my concerns by reading everything I can. But I am a lot more detached from my fears now and have a much better 🤷‍♀️ attitude now. It is out of my control so no point making myself sick over it.

There won't be a nuclear war, OP, I wouldn't worry about that. Putin has a specific vision which is to bring Ukraine back into Russia as it used to be when there was the USSR. He has a lot of twisted ideas and about how Ukraine was never a real country, it was Russia that made them who they are, blah blah. Also a lot of resentment about the past and he also wants to build a legacy, he's 69 now. Russia fucking with NATO would be instant WW3. Putin won't go for that because he'd never win. Hence why he's going for Ukraine because they're not in NATO. He's like Trump where he thinks the worst possible thing in the world is to lose or be a loser.

My ex-boyfriend is from Kharkiv and currently lives there. So about 20 miles from the border of Russia. He's not watching the news, he's just distracting himself with Wordle and Spotify. He lives in a flat with his elderly father. I dread to think what will happen.

Here in the UK, what it will mean for us. We will hear on the news that innocent Ukrainians and Russians have been killed. It will be on the news everyday probably for years. Our gas prices will go up even further. You do not need to be worrying about finding a shelter for you or your children, please just forget about that!

I hope you feel better real soon, I know how awful anxiety is.

I skip news and updates until a certain time each day. 12, 5, 7, whatever. If I don't I know I'll get sucked in and over-invested.

I have family in Ukraine and I worry about them. They don't all have the same response to what is happening by the way. However, they stand to be far more affected by whatever happens than me, currently in the UK.

World 'events' do change our lives in a variety of ways. Brexit, Covid, Climate, Putin.... all of them in different ways. Our interconnected digital world with its gluts of information and and misinformation can make us feel both overinformed and lacking power.

What is happening at the moment is going to change things in some way. I can't say exactly how, but think on balance it will be for the worse. Life for 'us' though will go on.

I'm the same. Just put news on and straight away I hear "just as we coming live on air Ukraine have declared state of emergency" my heart instantly sunk and I had to turn off

Some of you need to realise that a lot of the news isn't "scaremongering", it is simply facts which are scary.

Putin and oligarchs children and grandchildren all live in the west. A lot don't even speak russian, would never step foot in russia and love the western world.

There will not be a nuclear war and thats why he is scaring the west, but will never ever start anything

While acknowlewdging your own anxieties around this the best course of action would be for you to do something practical to help those who are actually suffering from this.
Fund raising is a good place to start.