AIBU worrying about WW3?

[mumstheword1x]

My husband says I’m putting too much energy into something that may never happen. I’m worried that UK will have a nuclear attack… my husband also says ‘the weren’t even used in the Cold War, they are mainly just a deterrent’

I can’t stop thinking about it, and I’m seeing tabloids like Mirror, Daily Star, The Sun.. report like ‘4 minute warning’ and everything- to the point I’ve had to delete Facebook.

ive even asked ChatGPT who says it’s ’extremely unlikely’ 😆

but I just can’t shake it, I suffer with anxiety that I am being seen for.

Mirror, Star and the Sun? There's your problem in a nutshell

@Nowpause I suggest you reread my post, because I never stated that there was any reality in a nuclear war. It is you who might be engaging in hyperbole. But I will refrain from further comment, as I don’t want to detract from the OP.

Reread the Op

the OP is concerned about nuclear war.

By all means tell us your prepping plans for a non nuclear war though 😆

I have had a bit of a stockpile for most of my adult life. I was always scared of nuclear war after watching threads !

Pantry is well stocked and items used and replaced in rotation so nothing has ever gone to waste . I have made sure I also have enough so that in the event of anything I can also help neighbours or anyone locally

Well you'd better get yourself off somewhere safe then OP!

OP. I spent years of my life worrying about nuclear war in the 80s and this was a time when the media was strongly suggesting it might be a possibility. Please stop worrying - the world has generally been an unstable place for most of human history but right now you are probably in one of the very best places to be.

There is absolutely no point in worrying about something you have no control over. Try and find something to distract you.

I made myself ill worrying like this for a long time. The worst was about climate change. I followed several charities, campaign groups etc. etc. on social media, and was then bombarded with images of forests on fire, glaciers melting, people dying from heat etc. The problem is your brain has difficulty separating what is either a) unlikely to happen b) only one of several future scenarios and instead you think it's happening to you right now. It isn't. Just stop looking at the news - headlines etc. are designed to provoke an emotional reaction (fear, upset etc) to get you to read/click. I should know - I used to work on one of the biggest news websites in the UK.

We all nearly died in 1983 apparently. It was stopped thanks to one man, Stanislav Petrov, who deduced that their early warning system sounding for missiles coming from the US, weren't actually there and he stopped a retaliatory launch from the USSR.

We're still all here though and I expect monitoring systems are more effective now.

It doesn’t have to involve nuclear weapons for it to be WW3. Aren’t we already in WW3? America has attacked Venezuela and has set the entire Middle East on fire, with God knows what ramifications to come from Iranian sleeper cells in the US. So that’s Ukraine, Russia, America, Venezuela, and all those ME countries. Seven or eight? I’d say we’re in the middle of WW3 already, thanks to Trump.

OP, none of us know what the future holds. And your husband is right, in that we've been through this before, several times.
But there is absolutely no point in worrying about something that is outside of our control - it's completely pointless, so just don't do it.
And, assuming that the current situation doesn't change much, you'll look back at a later point and bitterly regret all the time you spent worrying, when you could have just been enjoying life.
Carpe diem!

I've been slightly concerned about Iran hitting the UK with non nuclear missiles (they don't possess nuclear weapons) at that it would be a city or two and dealt with, hopefully intercepted though

Nuclear weapons, there's no way it will happen

Who do you believe would launch a nuclear strike on the UK, and why?

If there was a nuclear war, a tiny store cupboard of tins is going to make absolutely fuck all difference to anything.

Sorry, but this assumption is incorrect.

Stop reading The Mail, stay off Twitter …

I just see a lot of things about Russia with where I am looking.

I don’t think nuclear is the big worry

it’s food shortages as we rely so much on the rest of the world

it’s rampant inflation and rigged elections that lead to money bleeding out of the UK

it’s mass migration , becoming normalised to death and destruction

Thank you everyone, I have actually deleted my Facebook as I said above and I don’t have any other kind of social media, bar Instagram which doesn’t bring up posts from tabloids, just my gorgeous friends and family🫶🏼

my anxiety is actually health anxiety after my son nearly died at birth as he was extremely prematurely, and we are coming up to his 2nd birthday, which always seems like the ‘anniversary of the trauma’ and as much as I celebrate him and I’m so blessed, it creates some post traumatic stress which increases anxiety, and I guess I’ve clung onto these tabloids.

‘4 minute warning’, ‘where would be the best place to live if we got nuked’ ‘Russia sends threat to UK’

Russia is what triggers me the most with the UK being under threat, just from these stories & click bait posts.

my husband knows a lot about politics etc and he’s trying his hardest to reassure me, but I know he says a lot of things usually just to make me feel better!!! bless him.

but thank you for all replying x

It has been documented that by far the highest risk point of Russia launching a nuclear weapon was in Sept 2022 - but we are all still here! Russia are being kept in line by China, who have made clear their views on any nuclear escalation.

I hope this latest escalation increases our collective appreciation for our armed forces who will have to face danger in war zones while we are all at home watching it on TV. This has been on the cards for some time, it's the perfect storm. Personally I think people will look back and thank Starmer for his measured approach and for not leaping on the Trump bandwagon.

Nows not the time to quiver over images you see , you can switch them off whenever you like, people out there, including the Ukrainean people who have been fighting for their country for 4 years now, think of them. They can't just switch to a different channel. Unimaginable suffering.

Agree 100%

I'm slightly snorting at the idea of a well stocked pantry in the event of a nuclear war I must say...

A tin of Condensed Milk inside a football sock would be pretty effective in warding off looters. Unless they've got a hairspray and clipper lighter flamethrower or something, then you might have to break out the extension cord with the sharpened plug on the end.

I made a decision 10 years ago to not watch the news and to not worry about things I can't change...

It depends how far you are from a blast really. It may not mean survival but could make a difference in some ways