To be totally terrified ***edited by MNHQ to make clear this relates to the invasion of Ukraine***

[Petrolblues]

I can’t sleep, I can’t eat.
I keep looking at my 3 year old and crying.

I’m terrified of a nuclear attack.

It’s always been a fear of mine, even more so now that I have a child.
I feel sick. I just read an article which basically says Putin may well press the button as he’s never backed down on threats before and now I’m shaking.

Please help calm me down. I have ASD and ADHD. I had a full scale panic attack yesterday. I hate the not knowing and I feel like I can’t protect my son
I can’t quite believe we’ve had a global pandemic and now this.
I feel like I may be locked up soon, I’m losing it.

@Fromablokespoint

If and it is a "really really big if" NATO get involved we will see a nasty land war within Ukraine - NATO will secure Ukraine, they will not push into Russia itself - MAD (mutually Assured Destruction) as a concept works for a reason. As previous posters have said - it will take more than Putin to authorise - and that isn't going to happen.

I bet you £5 there is not a nuclear strike on the UK .

Take some deep breaths - STAY AWAY from 24/7 news and try to relax.

Also thanks for this fab comment! It's so nice to see sense in relation to all this.

Lots of good advice here so won’t repeat, except to share two sayings that have helped me...

“Don’t trouble trouble, until trouble troubles you”

“Fear and hope are two sides of the same coin. Choose hope”.

for everyone struggling with anxiety x

Thanks @Greeceisthebest , will try to remember these

@Fromablokespoint, NATO is a defensive military alliance. It will not attack, it will only defend and only its members.
Ukraine is not part of NATO thus NATO can't get involved.
Ukraine was nowhere near ready to be invited to join either NATO or EU, the corruption was too high for starters.
For those who bemoan NATO expansion, the larger the defensive military alliance is, the safer the world. Leaving Europe full of small countries who were clearly not able to defend themselves due to their size/ population would have opened the door to Putin and we would have had many wars in Europe since 90s.

thank you all those that have posted, this thread has really helped me get some perspective & make less anxious. Although that said, I really feel feel for those brave people in Ukraine

I’m feeling anxious too, but can see that it’s unlikely it’ll go towards nuclear war. Way too many Russians and their wealth in London for a start!

I think it’s natural to think of the worst. I was thinking about what I’d do if we got an alert, and the answer would be nothing. Have my kids with me but mention nothing. I’d rather my 13yos last moments were on the XBox than actually knowing. But my rational mind says that he’ll on that same ruddy machine a year from now, not anywhere else.

I'm not afraid of Nuclear War. I either die instantly or I take my own life to not have to suffer the consequences of a nuclear bomb. I can deal with both those things. (Dealing with the kids isn't a nice thought but again, I'd do what I'd have to do)

War is self is a scarier thought. But again. You'd just deal with it!
Maybe you'd cry for a bit, wail loudly if you have to. But you'd stop pretty quickly when you realise you have to just get on with it.

Like most catastrophes, you feel awful then you get on with it, then you reflect, build yourself back up again (this can also be done whilst in the middle of a catastrophe!) And get on with it again.

Life in a fucking nutshell really.

Ok yeah I do admit now that I am completely worried

I need somewhere to put this because I have oblivious children and a husband who simply won’t tall about it

I am really frightened now

Still not worried. What will be will be.

@PinchOfVom

Ok yeah I do admit now that I am completely worried

I need somewhere to put this because I have oblivious children and a husband who simply won’t tall about it

I am really frightened now

I'm not watching the news so have there been developments overnight to make us even more worried?

@Ciaram55 No, still an awful situation for those in Ukraine but also still no reason to worry about our safety if in the UK.
Russian forces stupidly shelled the biggest nuclear plant in Europe, but did stop, and the situation there is now under control. The plant is under Russian control, but I can't see them causing any sort of meltdown or the like, it wouldn't achieve anything other than killing them, affecting Ukraine and Russia, and possibly making the country they're trying to capture uninhabitable (as well as parts of Russia since it's so close).

All this misery and devastation because of ONE man. All because of one man's ego.

All the worrying and wailing you do is not going to stop Putin is it? Don't waste time by worrying about something over which you have no control.

@GucciBear

All the worrying and wailing you do is not going to stop Putin is it? Don't waste time by worrying about something over which you have no control.

@guccibear

Worrying and wailing? - really?

You don’t even know me. Not one person even suspects I’m worried in real life.

Maybe stop being so nasty about somebody admitting to feeling frightened.

Hope you’re nicer IRL.

OP I didn't say that YOU were worrying and wailing! What I said was that if you/me/HM were to worry and wail it would n ot make an y difference. I am extremely worried by the whole thing and the Nuclear part is terrifying. However, I am trying to concentrate on other things in order that my daughter does not feel scared. Please, God, it will not happen.