So anxious about war

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somehow, I am not convinced that "that man" gives an actual good god-damn about anybody somewhere else getting gas-attacked. there is an ulterior motive here.

I hardly watch the news any more, I just can't handle the anxiety. But I'm deeply suspicious about the news anyway, even (or maybe especially) the good ol' BBC. They do seem to delight in scaring the sh*t out if you and I wonder what agenda they're following. "Good news doesn't sell" is the mantra, I believe.

Well, ironically, all problems become meaningless when you know you're going to suffer or die in a war in the upcoming month.

I hope to God that is right.

Unfortunately my problems don't change even with the threat of imminent death ( which I don't think we are )

Syria doesn’t have the military capabilities to reach the UK.

Joe90, I know where you are coming from. As a school child we routinely practiced "duck and cover" drills where you got on the floor curled over like a knot, and shielded your head with your hands. This was supposed to protect us from a nuclear disaster! Well that's silly! But it burned nuclear dangers into our childish heads.

I also was concerned by predictions that ruining the environment would make our planet uninhabitable, so why do the cruel thing of bringing a baby into this world with a fate like that?

When I had my first baby, I heard a loud bang (probably a sonic boom from an aircraft) and my first thought was, that was the big one - an A bomb. I had dreams, nightmares, of annihilation.

Today's Americans grew up with the specter of 9/11 and images of people leaping from buildings, and the twin towers pancaking downwards. SSDD - same s**t, different day.

How I finally moved forward is the following reasoning: Yes, the world could end. But what if it doesn't? What if I skipped really living because of something that only MIGHT happen? So I married, had kids, went on living.

Nobody can read the future, and I won't tell you not to worry about it. But you might look at the consequences of worrying about something that only MIGHT happen. It could prevent you from having a full and satisfying life.

Last edited by BeaArthur on 15 Apr 2018, 1:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Why would the UK be attacked?

If any of the commonwealth countries are going to get attacked or invaded, it'll be us over here in Canada.. we're right in between the USA and Russia, have all the natural resources, and next to zero defences compared to the vast size of our country.

Well I know what you mean, it is human nature to be afraid of death. I also don't have an anxiety disorder, so I can't really speak for you.

My best advice is, that you should do what you like the most. Do you have hobbies or interests? Do them. Spend as much time alone, as you need. Go out into the sun, you can go alone of course. How about hiking or photographing? Have a day of, or use your holidays.

Believe me, I had the weirdest depressions, one of them even was related to summer temperatures. But eventually autumn started. Do you know what I mean? It works the same way for Trump, he cannot be there forever. He is over 70 years old, obese and probably won't survive his second term.

I think it's just the thought of the moments before the bomb hits your area. If you hear a warning that your country is under attack, and that you are going to be wiped off the face of the Earth at any moment, it's scary to anticipate it, no matter how quick and painless it will be. I remember having a dream of this sort of thing. In the dream the UK was under attack by Muslim terrorists (it was a dream, don't call me racist), and me and my family were huddled up for ages, waiting to die within the next few minutes. I was terrified. I kept looking outside at the lovely grass and flowers, and I cried my heart out at knowing these were our last moments of living beautiful life. The waiting turned into hours, which was getting more and more frightening, as we just wanted it to hurry up and be done with. Then, just as the radio announced that they were firing a missile at Essex where I live - I woke up. And you wouldn't believe how relieved I was. I felt so happy that it was just a dream, and that I could just get on with normal life. But now that it is happening for real, it is so depressing.

Death isn't so scary when you don't know when it will happen. But when there is talk of war within the next month, the very near future just looks bleak, and it's not enough time to appreciate things and live life to the fullest. If they said war will happen in 10 years time, I probably would deal with it better because a lot can happen in 10 years and also it's a long way off so there's still time to live your life.

Whether you have 10 seconds or the rest of your natural life to live without bombs dropping is impossible for you to know or influence change upon, so why spend your life worrying about it instead of living it as you see fit?

It's the good ol' serenity prayer:

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference."

They are all posturing. There will not be a war with Russia, who are the only ones to be concerned about. We need their gas, they need our cash. Putin is not an idiot, and neither is Teresa May. All a war between us would do is guarantee the next hundred years be dominated by China and India, (not that they won't do well anyway).

I used to have nightmares that the world would end due to environmental problems when I was a child, before I had a chance to grow up, when I told my Mum she said that it was a possibility.

I'm hoping Putin has more sense than Trump. I used to not mind Trump, but now I hate him because he thinks warfare and people's lives and everything is just one big videogame or something. And I always thought Kim Jong Un will be the one that ends the world.

I suppose I will ease off the worrying if it dies down or blows over, just like it's happened several times before in my life. Even though there is always conflict of some sort and a possibility of war, I still don't worry too much about it unless it is all flared up and all over the news, internet and papers. I'm just hoping it's like it was in 2003, I remember there was some conflict of some sort in Iraq and people were saying there's going to be a nuclear war. I remember being so worried about it, that I got bad chest pains and had to have 2 days off school.

I fear that I will live to experience a direct, sustained attack on the usa on multiple fronts, that would make 9/11 pale into insignificance.

It has been pretty overwhelming since the election, and difficult to deal with. There were a number of times during the first few months that I was absolutely terrified. A couple of things that made (and continue to make) me incredibly sad. Frustrated.
I do see glimmers of hope, though.
Try to think positive. Look for good things happening because of or in spite of all of this.

That's all I can say right now. I'll try to write more later.

Honestly, my first reaction when i saw this thread and the its replies was : 'Another First world problems'. Sorry, i know this is the haven but this thread made me laugh out loud. If there's anyone on WP who should really be constantly anxious of war it is me.

Now, let's be factual: The missile strike was not a war declaration, Putin saw it as a "insult" (aww) but he didn't state that it was an act of war. The whole world knew beforehand when and which targets are gonna be targeted by missiles.

If Trump really wanted to hurt the Syrian regime he wouldn't have warned them through his tweets for days by saying how soon will it be and which target locations he will blow up, you don't inform an enemy where you are gonna strike beforehand. And again, Syria has no capabilities to reach the US nor UK.

it was just an opportunity to do a showcase to sellers for a new type of missile, which was used in the strike + getting a good image.

That what was all about.

Fear affects cognition, it narrows one's focus and makes one think less critically. It also makes one support a leader who otherwise is iffy.

For this reason, both Putin and Trump are masters of emotional manipulation. If you are either one of them, you don't want people to think critically.

Cynical? Yes, but consider whether the facts support it. Trumped-up fear (sorry, couldn't resist the pun) is how Trump, with no government experience, got elected. And we now know the Russians did the same thing through fake news stories that alarmed the uninformed in America.