AIBU to feel panicked about Russia bombing the UK?

[Downtherabbithole34]

Currently having an actual panic attack about Russia bombing the UK and me and my kid dying.

Same here had to look it up.

No, you’re not. We as a population generally like you guys. You’re like the big sister who used to boss us around and make our lives tough, but then we got older and got some space from each other and now we’re buddies.

What would the point of the US attacking the UK even be?!

They wouldn’t bomb us. It would be cyber attack or cutting cables underwater. Much cheaper and much more damaging.

This is fabulous advice.

Right now, focus on your breathing and use grounding techniques to calm yourself down. E.g. find 5 things around you which are blue.

The only way putin is leaving this world is when he pops his clogs he isn’t gonna do it to himself . Live your life, it’s not long enough yo worrh about these things.

OP, I’m usually a very rational person, but when Russia attacked Ukraine and it was all that was on the news I experienced this terrible anxiety for the first time. I stopped reading the news and came off social media for a while, it did me the world of good.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5562880-ukraine-invasion-part-62?page=1

have you been keeping up to date with this thread? It is full of some very intelligent and articulate people who speak a lot of sense - it helped to calm me down at the beginning of Russia’s invasion (and helped me to find some useful ways to help the people of Ukraine)

Do you remember the Cold War ?
The Greenham Women ?
ICBMs being driven around Wiltshire every night
4 minute warning drills mentioned in schools

The risk from Russia ia a FRACTION of what we faced in the early 80's

More likely to hack your bank than Bomb your house.

Anyhow this level of panic in the general population is exactly what he wants.

Your worry has nothing to do with Putin, green goblins or flesh eating dustballs. This is a 'you' thing... Take a breath, look for a therapist. The real threat. You have complete control of x

Fair do's then, you have a general anxiety problem. Well done for being honest about it, hopefully that's the start of being able access help. I think you can see that your level must be really irrational since it covers things people do all the time.

The bottom line is, eventually we all die, and some people are unlucky earlier than others. Sure, take some reasonable sensible measures, but then live, comfortably, with the knowledge that fate is just that.

As a teenager in the 70s, I worried about being nuked. It doesn't cross my mind now.

this is how anxiety works. the fear is what keeps people 'safe'. so you cant expect them to relinquish the fear or they'll be open to getting hurt. it is a horrible thing to live with, and youre very lucky if you havent experienced it to this degree.

OP I've been there.
When DS was little i was so convinced we'd die in a freak terrorist attack that I stopped going out the house.
It a a debilitating fear that people down plan.
I did end up going to a Dr and got sertraline and CBT and now have a little saying in my head.
Whenever I end up panicked I tell myself "not now" and I let myself worry in the morning when I'm more prepared. I can do things, research or rationalise with myself.
Then I remind myself that there is nothing I can do and it's not my problem to solve. All I can do is look after my own and be the best person I can.

Ita an awful feeling OP and I won't deny I was worried, but just remember that you cannot live life scared.

He has a wife/mistress/children and has acquired a fortune. He isn't going to turn everything to ashes

Really, OP?
If you have any sense of history over the last 100 years, you'll know that attack by Soviet Union/Russia has been a threat for much of that time....in the 80s we used to joke about what we'd do with our last 4 minutes!
In the vanishingly unlikely event that it actually happens, well c'est la vie....we've all got to go sometime.
More seriously, don't waste the time you do have worrying about things completely outside your control - it's a pointless use of your time and energy. Just concentrate on enjoying your life.

Putin is evil enough to do it, but not stupid enough to.

So you know you’re being unreasonable. Are you hoping for people to calm you down a bit? Or is posting on here and discussing/thinking about it going to reinforce your anxiety?

Have you listened to Mark Galeotti's podcast, In Moscow's Shadows? He's an expert who debunks a lot of propaganda, whether pro-Kremlin or anti-Kremlin.

I don't know about death phobia, but I do know this, there is an awful lot of Russophobia. Its not even new, like antisemitism it has a history and is largely based on very false premise.

I posted because I have no one else who understands. My family all this k in and and just laugh at me. So I guess, yes, I needed some rational thoughts and explanations to calm me down.

Their bark is worst then their bite.

Don't even begin to compare it to anti Semitism. Putin is a dictator and invaded a sovereign state which had the right to determine their own future.

Oh come on.

Calm down. This is not the first time someone's stood up for him, or the first time he's made some threats in retaliation. Nothing serious happened earlier, nothing serious will happen now. He may do some small scale cyber attacks or some such, but he won't be bombing that place. Have a good night's sleep, I will!