Extreme anxiety over current events (trigger warning)

[BrokenAge]

I know this doesn't really count as "health anxiety" but I'm sitting here terrified. More so than I ever have been in my life. I'm seeing articles about Nuclear war, WW3, Putin and such. To think about that is like the apocalypse. I feel like throwing up. This is all so real. I'm sort if this triggered anyone but my anxiety is killing me.

[Gary A]

I know this doesn't really count as "health anxiety" but I'm sitting here terrified. More so than I ever have been in my life. I'm seeing articles about Nuclear war, WW3, Putin and such. To think about that is like the apocalypse. I feel like throwing up. This is all so real. I'm sort if this triggered anyone but my anxiety is killing me.

These types of issues have been doing the rounds for years. I used to post on a website that specifically pertained to debunking rumours of the "apocalypse", wether it be from nuclear war, asteroid impacts or the devil suddenly appearing on earth to kill us all or whatever.

It was simply amazing the sheer volume of these rumours that circulated. The Internet has given a voice to that guy who used to stand in town with a sandwich board on that read "the end is nigh" or something of that nature.

You quickly learn that the only people who seriously think nuclear war or whatever is a possibility, are mostly Internet nutcases. Mainstream media see these stories gaining interest and they act on it. Never underestimate the power of the Internet.

[Captain irrational]

Doom mongers have been prediciting WW3 with Russia for years, and nothing ever comes of it. The political classes would never be able to justify such a war to the public in this day and age. It's not like the old days when the elites could just bamboozle everybody with propaganda and the public had little to no means of questioning it. We now have the internet, social networking, alternative media etc, such pro-war propaganda can be so easily exposed and discredited with just a quick Google search.

[MyNameIsTerry]

War is a possibility, Nick, there are always wars going on. Nuclear war is a very different thing and no one wants it for the simple reason that no one wins. That's why it's a deterrent. Russia can't launch because you will turn them to glass in return minutes later. Everybody loses.

Countries like North Korea are more the worry as they are very insular. Then we have the Middle East.

Putin knows you are poking at him and he's known for a long time. Obama doesn't want war, that type of non nuclear war devastates 2 equal enemies. That's why we had the Cold War. Everyone is poking at each other on the quiet without open conflict.

This world now is about trade and money. These are the people that pretty much own our governments and war would destabilise economies resulting in those companies losing. War would destroy those companies.

Think of it this way as well, the US did much the same in Afghanistan many years ago against them and that didn't start a war despite them being directly involved as opposed to supporting Assad's regime.

All our countries are involved too and all talking. No one wants war, it would hit us worse in Europe with us being in the field between the two armies!

Switch the news off for a bit. Do something to distract you and please don't listen to sensationalist news channels about this.

[BrokenAge]

I'm sorry if I'm redundant about this but I'm only 17 and this is horrifying. I don't know if it's "pro war propaganda" or not. I see major US media outlets talking about it. Also the US Defcon warning system is at 3 because of this. I want this to just be blind paranoia but it's freaking me out. I apologize to everyone but geez this seems like such a worrying time.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I wouldn't worry about the DefCon thing. Our terrorism warnings get upgraded all the time when things are going on around the world. Nothing comes of them.

Putin's not a fool. The media like to portray him as one but the guy isn't the least bit intimidated by the likes of Obama. He knows the game and that's why he doesn't back down to sabre rating. That doesn't mean he's going to destroy his own country, only madmen do that, not clever rich people who want to get richer.

Yeah, our news are talking about it daily because of Syria. Before that it was Ukraine with Russia. Nothing came of sabre rattling at Russia then either.

The politicians would lose all their comfy lives on either side. That alone secures a stalemate. Politicians are all one breed whatever country, money grabbers the lot of them.

It is worrying, I know. When I was at school we had to study all the 3 minute warning stuff. The government soon ditched that stuff over here.

Switch the news off for a bit and do other things, it's always the same old world for our countries. We are luckier than most in that respect.

[Leafers]

The Defcon system is not at 3. The website I know you are talking about is not a .gov website or has any credibility. The defcon system is a PRIVATE thing that isn't allowed to be released publicly.
"The DEFCON Warning System is a private enterprise which monitors world events and assesses nuclear threats against the United States by national entities. It is NOT AFFILIATED with any government agency and does not represent the alert status of any military branch. (Emphasis mine)"
From that website, keyword.. PRIVATE..
It's nothing to worry about, we don't know the real Defcon since it's classified. If you want to know the real Defcon, phone obama.

[MyNameIsTerry]

The Defcon system is not at 3. The website I know you are talking about is not a .gov website or has any credibility. The defcon system is a PRIVATE thing that isn't allowed to be released publicly.
"The DEFCON Warning System is a private enterprise which monitors world events and assesses nuclear threats against the United States by national entities. It is NOT AFFILIATED with any government agency and does not represent the alert status of any military branch. (Emphasis mine)"
From that website, keyword.. PRIVATE..
It's nothing to worry about, we don't know the real Defcon since it's classified. If you want to know the real Defcon, phone obama.

I only worry when we go to "brown" alert

[Leafers]

I only worry when we go to "brown" alert

Now thats a nuclear war to be scared of.

[Kathryn313]

A couple of years ago i found myself worrying about all this, was looking at prophecies and then what to do in a strike and whether i should stock pile water and money. Even at the time I recognised this as being quite absurd but i can definitely understand where you are coming from,its just such a shame that you are thinking about this stuff at 17 when there is so much more you could do with your talented imagination.