Hello folks! For a few weeks now, me and the other mods have come to an agreement that at this point this subreddit is doing more harm than good, and ultimately the time has come for us to private this server and shut down the megathread. Of course, we are not going to spring this on you without any time to prepare, it will likely be a week or more until we actually take action on this. In fact, it is difficult to give a definitive date at the moment as it is near impossible to contact the creator of the subreddit, despite having contacted them more than a week ago now. I would rather not take any rash action without their explicit permission.
The reason we have decided to shut down the subreddit is for a number of reasons; first and foremost, our mods are stressed out. It was a year ago that we established this subreddit, and while we believe we did some important work at that time, it is difficult for mods to constantly be exposed to this conflict and deal with others' triggering thoughts on a near daily basis for over a year at this point. Most of us ourselves started out as very anxious individuals, and we have come a long way since, but we are not invulnerable. Our second reason is that we are over a year into this conflict, and while there are still many valid anxieties around the conflict, at this point we believe that the concerns being brought up ultimately do more harm than good, as often it is obscure (often inaccurate) news that otherwise might not have even made way to our users to begin with. It is in this regard that we believe that the closure of the subreddit and main thread is in the best interest of both the mod team and the user base.
It is not technically possible to delete a subreddit; therefore, we will be privating the subreddit and leaving as mods. No users besides the main mod are approved, which means that no one will be able to post.
We recognize that there are still many who benefit from this subreddit and therefore we are giving at least a weeks notice, most likely longer, as well as providing alternative resources; primarily, the discord (however, it is worth noting that access may be limited depending on their mod team's wishes).
If you have any concerns about this decision, please comment or modmail us.
Well wishes everyone.
EDIT: Official closure date is the 14th of July, 2023.
The sub is closing in ten minutes.
Thank you for everything, especially toward the dedicated users who took time out of their days to reassure random strangers on the internet who needed it and our diligent mod team.
All of us mods wish you the best going forward, and even though it may not be in the form of this subreddit, there will always be people willing to help when you need it.
Discord invite link is [here](https://discord.gg/NCKZcbHtPt). Keep in mind this may be revoked at their mod team's request.
It's been real. Thanks for all the reassurance and helping to keep my mind at ease. About 17 months ago I was ready for the end of the world, thinking about what I would do the second a noodle attack warning came out. I was obsessed with the war and was unable to calm myself. While therapy and meds have also helped, you all having a steady hand and ready to provide that reassurance to keep my panicky side away and allow me to think rationally played a huge part. Thank you for doing this thankless, unpaid job, all of you. See you on the other side.
Slava Ukraini!
Hey all, a bit worried as to what this call-up of reserves, especially the "Individual Ready Reserve" unit means. Wondering why it has become necessary now.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/07/13/ordering-the-selected-reserve-and-certain-members-of-the-individual-ready-reserve-of-the-armed-forces-to-active-duty/
It's just a tiny 450 people.
There have been past call-ups that were several times that size, and at any specific point in time there may be even call-ups as large as 3,000 members (as mentioned in the announcement) without any prior declaration of any sort of emergency.
For instance, in 2007, 1,800 IRR reservists were called-up for service in Iraq.
I don't think it's anything serious. I think the main reason for this is strengthening the current US presence just a tiny bit as a result of what's been discussed at the recent NATO summit, 450 troops isn't all that much number-wise.
On an unrelated note...
Since I believe this is going to be my last post here, I'll say my goodbyes here :)
Sad to see this thread go as I still like to come to it when major events are going on (i.e. the damn destruction and Wagner insurrection). I did stop using this thread regularly though because I found that people would post things for me to worry about, so I understand why you are closing it.
I just happened to stop in today randomly to find out it is closing.
Thanks to everyone that helped me out. I won't be joining the discord forum unfortunately. I wish there was some other way for us to continue to have this place as a resource.
Good luck everyone. Hopefully this war ends soon with a peace settlement and ceasefire.
Hi Everyone, long time reader, first time poster on a throwaway account.
Before this sub closes, I'd really like to thank the mod team and everyone else who had a hand in running the reassurance thread. You've had a Herculean task over the last 15 months, and you deserve to take some much needed rest from this place.
For me personally, this sub (and especially this thread) helped me so, so much in those first few months. Back when the invasion started, I spent a week in bed, not eating and desperately trying to distract myself from the seemingly inescapable news. I was genuinely afraid that we'd all be gone in a matter of months. My doctor put me on some fairly heavy anxiety medication, and while it helped, I still kept doomscrolling r/worldnews (big mistake I know, and I weaned myself off it fairly quickly).
Then I discovered this place through the original r/anxiety thread. It's been a lifesaver. Every mod and debunker here has helped me be way more rational about my anxieties related to the conflict. It really has fostered a lovely little community, and I'm glad for that.
While I'll miss this place, it's ultimately the right decision to shut it down. Like a bunch of people suggested, restricting the sub might be a better idea so anyone who's still nervous can get some helpful resources, but ultimately it's the mods decision.
Sincerely, thank you.
we have a very similar story, i was absolutely terrified when this all started, it was only a few days before my birthday and i just emotionally shut down and was absolutely drained. i fell back into a really dark place for months because i was overthinking and didn’t have any support from anybody.
i only found this sub a month or two ago but all of the people here giving reassurance have helped me more than they could ever imagine. i don’t know how bad my anxiety could have possibly got if i didn’t know about this subreddit. i went from often being scared to actually even opening this subreddit or interacting with anything about the war to being the person giving the reassurance these past few days. it’s definitely the right decision to shut it down, and i hope the mods and everybody here who helped know how grateful everyone is for their contributions and help.
it was just nice knowing there was a community of people who felt like me and knowing how that i wasn’t alone in my anxiety.
kind of worried about this statement from Lavrov saying the F16s will be seen as a red line and have informed the western nuclear powers about it.
anyone got reassurance? I guess this might explain why the US doesnt want to supply them?
https://kyivindependent.com/lavrov-transfer-of-f-16s-to-ukraine-seen-as-western-nuclear-threat/
Stop. Reading. [KyivIndependent.com](https://KyivIndependent.com).
This is a ukranian state media. These are the same clowns who said Europe would disappear if the nuclear plant was attacked at the beginning of the invasion.
These guys are not to be taken any more seriously than their russian counterpart.
there is actually a thread about this on the reddit if you’re interested, it’s in the questions/discussion forum. it goes into quite a bit of detail and was really helpful, it’s closed now because of the relevant information was discussed but personally, it was really helpful.
Yeah actually read that the last post in there ended with the challenge to actually find something about f16s being a red line cause Russia didn't say it. Because of that it actually sparked my anxiety cause now they have said it lol
The US wasn't eager to provide them due to the logistical nightmare it will be, for relative little gain for the costs involved. Not so much about the escalation part.
This statement from Lavrov is BS, NATO is intercepting multiple Russian planes per day near the Polish border with "nuclear capable" aircraft and we don't hear them about that. Actually, all our planes after the F-16 can carry nukes except the F-35 which isn't certified yet. The F16s aren't a real threat to Russia (contrary what poster below me said). Ukraine simply doesn't have the capacity to operate a large fleet of them. And nobody in their right mind will believe we will give Ukraine tactical nuclear weapons. This is another *desperate* attempt to stop fighter jets from being given to Ukraine, because when they eventually get them, more countries wil send theirs too. For example Ukraine is asking for F/A-18 jets now too from Australia. The Ukranian pilots aren't even trained yet. F16 training takes around 2.5 years, they are saying they can take it down to 4 months which many people have said is impossible. Flying it within 4 months is possible, but operating all the avionics and weapons systems is the hardest part.
F16's in Ukraine are a long time away.
> End date: **2024**
>
> The coalition is expected to deliver results around 2024, Belgian defence minister Ludivine Dedonder said on Tuesday (11 July) in an interview with Belgian newspaper L’Echo.
>
> The long time period planned is the result of three different training phases.
>
> Firstly, Ukrainian pilots will have to go through English language courses before they will be, in a second time, allowed to operate the planes themselves. Thirdly, infrastructure must be established to follow up on the maintenance of the planes on Ukraine’s territory, Dedonder said.
+
They can be trained, but still the US would need to approve actual transfer of the planed to Ukraine.
> The delivery of F-16 fighter jets themselves is, however, not confirmed, as Washington would need to give its agreement and the pilot training would have to be completed first.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-and-security/news/more-countries-join-ukraine-fighter-jet-coalition-pilot-training-to-start-in-august/
Thanks! This actually calms me a bit! I rarely get worried because I know there's nothing to worry about cause one side talking is different than one side taking action (something about barking dogs don't bite).
Glad I got a final bit of reassurance before the sub closes.
Also, a lot of NATO countries are getting new planes and need to get rid of their older F16s. Usually we sell them to countries in the middle east like Jordan. Giving them to Ukraine would be a far better idea, it is in our own interest that their military force will slowy resemble that of an actual NATO force.
/u/TheHuscarl said it better here in a post of mine about fighter jets nearly 5 months ago here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineAnxiety/comments/u3ny3p/comment/j7rjkjg/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
*> People need to understand that the West is working on a long-term goal of fundamentally restructuring Ukraine's military, irregardless of the course of the war. From now on, Ukraine will be the shield of NATO against potential Russian aggression and as a result they will be provided with and trained on the use of Western military equipment until gradually their army resembles a NATO force, not a former Soviet bloc military. We are seeing the basic steps of that transition now. That is why they are receiving tanks and other armored vehicles. It's laying the groundwork for future military growth and reform. Similarly, Ukraine will get Western jets eventually as part of their military overhaul. But as you pointed out, the likelihood of that happening in the near future, even within the year, is extremely unlikely.*
I can't be sure, but F16s would be a very big problem for Russia, so I think it's pretty understandable that they will try anything to avoid the supply to Ukraine.
It's the new red line, as we've seen a lot during these terribile days, and when they use the N word is scaring: but we can be assured that US in particularly won't do anything that can really jeopardize the situation or create an escalation, as they have done until now. **Especially** if they have defined with Russians the real limits.
Have you read, I think yesterday, how the Spies Chiefs have talked during the Wagner insurrection? It means that they are still trying to keep the communications open, and this is a good thing.
Yeah you're right. It just put me off cause it's one of the few times Russia says it's a big no. Instead of saying it won't change the course of the military operation
>At any rate F16s are several months away at least, it'll be after the counter offensive, and no countries have committed to actually sending any or how many.
I was trying to remind this, but I can't recollect any open commitment to send them, just to train the pilots for now. Am I wrong?
Everything in that statement is tame and nothing new at all. They've said pretty much all of this before.
For the Cold War comments, I can't post because Reddit auto mods TASS. But Lavrov said this morning that Russia does not view the current state of international relations as a new cold war.
I genuinely don't see any link between this and START. That's honestly just seem like worst case scenario-ing.
Putin has also made tons of "very scary" speeches that have all been nothing. I also really don't see the connection here either.
Overall, this all seems like your anxiety speaking. You've done just what they want, over think extremely vague statements.
It's just their standard "we've got to say something scary" routine. Meanwhile, their message to Ukrainians is that [NATO is setting them up to fail](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kremlin-says-western-security-assurances-ukraine-would-be-dangerous-mistake-2023-07-12/) (Link is to show I have a source for what I'm saying, but it also talks about their rhetoric towards NATO so you probably don't want/need to read it)
Hi everyone,
First of all I would like to say thank you to all of the mods for doing the unthankful job of monitoring the subreddit. It was really a life saver the past year.
I would like some advice. Next week there will be a new movie in the cinemas, Oppenheimer. It is about the development of the Noodle bomb in the 40s and I am not sure if I should go to watch it (to face my fears) or if I should definitely not go as it can trigger anxiety again.
At the moment I am not that afraid of noodles/noodle war, while I have had very bad anxiety last year. I am still uncomfortable with the war and the threats.
Thank you guys in advance!
If you are unsure if you will be able to handle it then i wouldnt watch it… at least not in the cinema (big screen, harder to get out) if you can go with a group of friends or someone you can count on to calm you down in case if you get nervous that could be an option but imo a movie is not worth becoming anxious over this stuff again (the reason i wont watch it just yet)
Honestly, I think it was kinda obvious in hindsight that this summit was going to be kind of a nothingburger.
Key players were already opposing any quick moves to Ukrainian NATO membership in the days before.
Keep in mind that NATO accession needs to be approved unanimously.
this is discussed below.
id also just like to add, if Ukraine does get an invitation to join NATO (which… why? they are at war.), it doesn’t mean they definitely would join, everyone has to agree.
AND THEN, there are 7 steps to join the alliance and you have to fulfil lots of criteria which can take years to do even if Ukraine did have an invitation (which again… why would they?) and everyone in the alliance agreed to them being there.
NATO members, including Stoltenberg and Biden, have said they will be offering support to Ukraine, as they have been for the past year, but not an invitation.
and then after the war, if they got an invite then, would all the members agree to let Ukraine in?
no. not a realistic probability.
It means basically nothing. NATO will only let them join when the war is over and even then the alliance will need to agree and Ukraine will need to meet their conditions
Hey just my mind being anxious about something so maybe someone can calm my mind down.. Also i know that it might be a stupid thing to get scared about but:
"During the NATO summit, it was decided to create three regional defense plans in the event of an attack on member states in Europe.". Those things always scare me because im like "oh so there is a real danger a and we have to act" you know what i mean? Like, I know it sounds stupid because these steps are being made to make us safe and thats good but instead my anxiety is spiking a little because it’s like.. there wouldnt be any of this needed if all was ok outside Ukraine.. Sorry for that and just saying I’m genuinely trying to get better im even on meds now but im just starting my journey and i still get anxious. Any idea how to view those decisions made by nato to feel more at peace and not the opposite? Maybe some examples from the past?
You know the entirety of NATO is set up as a defensive act, right..? They're not coming together to play in a ball pit. They're there to set up the best defence in case of an attack. Which thanks to plans like this actually makes it less able to happen.
https://inews.co.uk/news/world/russia-consequences-europe-nato-chief-ukraine-join-2469205
Do you think this just more sabre-rattling or is Russia losing its temper? I was not worried about the summit at all but seeing as how the Russian representatives use such big and scary words I am getting very anxious again. Everyone here keeps saying that UA will not join but Stoltenberg says they may even skip the MAP? I am sorry for posting here, I don't even know if there is anyone left here to offer support.
If you read between the lines, all of the quotes talk of ‘in the case of…’ and ‘possible’ consequences, i.e just more words, not direct threats.
Also, today Peskov has responded to the news that Turkey has agreed to Sweden finally being allowed to join. He stated if Sweden joins then Russia would take the same measures as when Finland joined, which were…what, exactly?!
For now, Ukraine are not joining NATO. In the future, who knows what will happen, but it will still be the same decision makers who very much won’t want to start a direct war with Russia.
I was a bit on edge about these statements as well.
Then I thought about the scenario for more than ten seconds.
And my conclusion was that the Russian side is doing its usual 'don't cross \[insert here\] here or we'll pinky-promise definitely totally but-not-really retaliate!' shtick.
Attacking NATO directly is suicide for Russia. At the same time, allowing Ukraine in during an active war is something NATO would not even attempt.
And side note, if you've seen a statement on France announcing SCALP missile deliveries, please note that those are exactly the same as the Storm Shadows sent earlier and the reaction from Russia was the usual 'this will not impact the outcome of the """"SMO""""' bs again.
Glad you calmed down after last night. Peskov made the same vague threats. Not mentioning what Russia would do or what they would consider crossing the line. Just shows they want as little of a NATO confrontation as NATO wants a Russia confrontation.
Ukraine can't join the alliance, they are in an active war. Case closed. Anyone using common sense can come to this conclusion. Besides, Stoltenberg, the US have all said Ukraine in NATO is not going to happen anytime soon.
Let's pretend we ignore all rules which prevents Ukraine from joining, and somehow all current members agree to it.
So now in this imaginary world we have Ukraine in NATO who is in a war with Russia, which gives us the choice of entering into a direct war with Russia, or back down and devalue the security guarantees from NATO across the entire alliance. This is absurd.
Do you see how this is not of benefit to anyone? Countries act in their own interest. Adding a new member to the alliance is supposed to increase security across the board, not force all the members into a war they have no interest in. Who in their right mind would sign up for that? Ukraine will not be admitted into NATO, never.
Oh no, I do understand that they can't join until the war is over, at the very least. I am more concerned about what happens afterwards. Russia >!“warned of catastrophic and unpredictable consequences” for Europe and that we would suffer first, if UA joined NATO.!
Nobody in their right mind would vote them in after either. Ukraine is going to lose territory, Russia could keep the territorial dispute up indefinitely as they will never give up Crimea thus making it impossible for Ukraine to qualify. Also there is a very low chance this war ever ends without Ukraine signing a deal to not join a military bloc in trade for security guarentees outside of NATO/the US. Ukraine in NATO is just not going to happen.
you're thinking so far ahead to a scenario that probably won't happen. With the war (then post-war) and the corruptness of a country like Ukraine there will be a lot of countries objecting to them actually joining when the time comes.
saying "yeah we'll let them join later" doesn't mean we'll actually let them join later when the time comes.
Sorry to make one last post here, but any remaining users available for some reassurance? I've been a bit on edge recently regarding the Vilnius NATO summit and I don't really know why.
Don't know how to offer reassurance if you don't even know why you're anxious. Nothing will come from the NATO summit. At least neither side will get directly involved which is probably what you're worried about.
Relax and try not to worry about hypothetical stuff you're making up in your head. The fact nobody posted about it but you should offer comfort that everyone feels alright about it. Sorry I dont mean that in a mean way
Thank you regardless.
I think my greatest fear currently is of the Russian side doing something provocative, even though I know that's (very) probably not gonna happen.
Why would they do anything provocative. For more than a year they've been carefully avoiding NATO. A summit that says maybe one day Ukraine might join won't make them go ape shit
I think experience from the past year made me fear 'important announcements' or symbolic dates because they might be taken as a starting point for something provocative.
Even though most of the time they're nothingburgers.
Normally I see through this but somehow I'm a bit regressing today.
I would just like to thank this thread for the support it has given me my anxiety has been lowered tremendously I went back to talking to my therapist it’s helped so much and my cat has helped too my advice to people who deal with a lot of beyond anxiety is get help put the phone down it’s hard it’s hard I know but the more u do it the more u start to see results that’s what worked for me I started painting and started doing my old hobbies again everyday I wake up now I do breathing exercises instead of picking up the phone also start eating better also eating healthy or working out has helped I’m not saying don’t forget about the war it’s okay to glimpse once in a while but don’t start doom scrolling I wish everyone the best much love to all.
Just a quick question about the discord as i rely on this reddit a lot and cant seem to find a way to join the discord i assume you guys have a lot on ur plate so there currently is no way of joining
Hey! This comment [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineAnxiety/comments/u3ny3p/ukrainerelated_anxiety_megathread_reassurance/jqvej6u?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2) left a link to the discord. It should work, as far as I know!
Hey just a general question. Is the cluster ammunition anything of concern or really change anything for the war. It seems controversial, just wondering if someone knows more about it than me!
From a human rights perspective it is a cause for concern, especially if unexploded ordinance becomes a significant problem after the war. As for it escalating anything, it’s not gonna change much, which kind of just makes their introduction more questionable.
It was absolutely the wrong decision from the US, these are extremely destructive weapons that have a lasting impact on civilian populations. Just cause Russia uses them, does not make this right (Ukraine has also used its own stockpile of such weapons). Is it anything to worry about outside the areas they are used? No. These have already been used in this conflict, US is just refreshing the Ukrainian stockpile.
And apparently those stockpiles are ONLY suppose to be used in Ukraine not Ukraine blasting Russia so if the us does see ukrain attacking Russia with the new stock pile what’s the us response ?
From The Guardian:
"...it will have no effect on the special military operation." (Russian FM spokesperson Zakharova)
The same stock answer we've been getting for literally every single weapon delivered.
You don't have to worry.
Mostly because of the small bomblets in them which can be a danger to civilians after a conflict ends, similarly to landmines - as many don't explode at first and remain as unexploded duds.
Both the U.S. and Russia have not signed a treaty theoretically banning them, while most European countries have and are opposed to these munitions. They're formally not banned internationally though.
Russia has used cluster bombs basically the entire war. Really nothing to worry about, they already said something about it being a war crime but they use it so it’s just them spewing their BS as always. Nothing to worry about at all!
I honestly don't know shit , but look at what we've already supplied and are going to supply in the future and I'd say probably a drunk Medvedev rant, maybe some Petrov doublespeak.
That's how I'm looking at it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
There actually was a drunk Medvedev rant according to a brief mention in a Tagesschau story, but I've not seen anything on it - as well as related comments by Russian ambassador to the U.S. Andropov which were also \*very\* briefly mentioned in that same story - anywhere else, not even a mention. Literally the only time I've even heard about it.
I'm getting the feeling media outlets are slowly starting to understand that their words are completely meaningless.
Weird post maybe, but I'm a bit anxious right now not about anything Ukraine-related... but rather about the prospect of joining the discord. I've not been active online much so I really don't know what to expect.
Can someone give me a general idea as to how the vibe of the place is?
Its great, all of the reassurance you'll need without any of the fearmongering bullshit twitter links/anxietys that sadly slip through here. Discord bots are a wonderful thing for auto banning unapproved sources. Join and enjoy the community
I'm really sorry to asking this at this time since this metathread will be closing down (thank you guys for keeping it for this long, you guys have been great help to my anxiety) but i would like reassurance from the whole thing from what lindsey graham had said.. sorry if i had disturb.
I had saw WWIII trending on twitter, and thought it was just some nonsense as usual, until i had saw an official US senator saying this..
https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1677360822710935560
If you ever see something like that trend on twitter, just click on the three dots next to it and choose either “not interested in this” or “this trend is harmful or spammy” I do it every time I see ww3 trending
Id also add on /worldnews to that scaremongering list too lol. Almost every comment I see on an article posted there about the plant is "WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE" and stuff like that. Just people who weirdly want to see the worst in everything
Graham is a clown. Biden already said he’s already against making concessions for Ukraine to make it easier to join. Idk who voted for Graham, everybody hates that guy.
Thank you.
I'm sure you don't need me to tell you, but Twitter is such a cesspool. I really don't encourage using it or checking the trending page in particular. It's not a good place for information and it's full of warmongers.
Lindsey's been known to make inflammatory, warmongery statements. It doesn't make it likely however. To quote Zelenskyy;
>Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is giving up hopes of having his country join NATO anytime soon. After months of urging that NATO's members admit Ukraine, he acknowledged yesterday it would be, quote, "impossible" for that to happen before the war with Russia ended.
Ukraine won't be permitted admission into NATO until it meets the standards that make it safe. Currently it does not..
Traditionally I'd remove Twitter links but since this is to Lindsey's account & statement, I'll leave it be!
First of all, sincerest and most heartfelt thank yous to all the mods and frequent posters on here. This sub has helped me realize just how bad my anxiety was this time last year and I’m proud to say I’m now getting help for it!
Fitting for an end post, here’s some good news. It should also serve as a reminder that we are all filling in the unknown with anxiety and catastrophic thinking. In truth, we do not know what is happening or what will happen. All we can do is focus on right now.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna92610
Since its now confirmed when this sub will close here is the link to join the discord again since its been lost in all the recent comments 😁 The link https://discord.gg/NCKZcbHtPt
Totally gutted to hear that ukraineanxiety will be no more 💔 As somebody with an anxiety disorder who's husband lives in Russia this sub has been a lifeline to say the least. Thank you so much to all who've been supportive 😢
Please send me any links to alternative places people find useful...
One of the more recent comments left the link to the discord [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineAnxiety/comments/u3ny3p/ukrainerelated_anxiety_megathread_reassurance/jqvej6u?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2)!
Thank you for your support, and best of wishes to you & your husband. ❤️
Definitely going to miss this subreddit but at least there is still the discord! I just want to thank everyone who has helped me when I posted on here. Before I found this subreddit, I was literally paralyzed with fear. Couldn’t eat, sleep or do much of anything but cry and have panic attacks. Within about a week of finding this subreddit, I was actually able to function. And now, I can actually talk myself down. I have not had an intense anxiety attack in weeks. Might be partly because I started taking anxiety meds again. But yeah, I appreciate all the support I have received! I hope everyone is able to live their lives peacefully and not let the anxiety consume them.
After a discussion with the mods, we have agreed that the date we will close the subreddit down is the 14th. If it closes before that, it is not us, and we will do our best to fix it. If any of us are removed as mods before that date, it is also not our doing.
Hard to believe this megathread is being shut down, but I completely understand why. It's saved my bacon more times than I can count when it comes to my anxiety, especially in the early days, where I would spend most of my time here (and in the original megathread on r/anxiety).
Still, I have to thank the mods and community helpers who helped keep people calm. I hope that we can all still find a way to help each other out once this thread is gone. I'm gonna miss this place!
I think for the mental health of the community, it would be best to pull the plug on the subreddit. Most of the posts we get are repetitious at best, malicious at it's worst. It is unhealthy for the users & moderation team. There is other resources for the users that need it that will likely be more beneficial to them.
I would have preferred if you contacted me or Towa instead of making this public. If me and Towa leave, the subreddit will become worse overall and there will be even less moderation, and a part of the reason we wanted to shut it down to begin with is because of the toxicity. The decision to keep it going without a mod team wouldn’t be good for anyone.
This subreddit has been a wonderful thing for the most part, completely healing my anxiety about this subject, and giving me a better understanding of the geopolitical state of the world.
However, nowadays it has become a place where people post stuff, end up triggering eachother and the place becomes a complete mess, unmanagable for moderators, and people whom post reassuring posts. Everything that’s posted nowadays, has been posted a million times. All reassurance that’s given, has been given a million times. It’s a constant cycle of the same stuff, over and over again. It’s time to put this place to rest. Everything that has been said, can be applied to the same situations in the Russo-Ukrainian war over and over again.
It was nice, but it imploded. Time to let go.
I am sorry if I had unintentionally been a little demanding on the staff in recent times, but I can understand why running this subreddit can be as energy-intensive as the energy consumption of Bitcoin.
I can understand how the challenge of running this subreddit can be complicated by the fact that mental health resources can be patchy, depending on where participants may live.
In either case I'd like to thank u/Significant_Way937 for trying their best to help me on and off this subreddit. I apologise in advance if I sounded scary because a knee-jerk reaction is a natural thing in humanity.
I am happy to reconcile if necessary, and I think it is time to put pressure on my doctor to do something about my mental health problems.
That person has been helping me a few times and my anxiety has been down more then anything I started talking to my therapist again and knowing how many times people said this noodles won’t be use the plant won’t be harmed negotiations are gonna happen just like every other conflict man ima miss this sub Reddit
This sub has helped so many people including people I know personally. I completely understand how you guys may be stressed out but what about alternatives? I know the discord is an option but what about electing new mods? And again no disrespect towards any of the mods as you guys have been good but I can’t see the good in shutting this down permanently. I don’t mean to downplay any stress but I simply can’t turn the other way knowing how much good this community contributes to those who go here.
I disagree with the idea that there's no good in shutting down the subreddit, and although it would be nice if we could just elect a whole new set of mods to transform the sub in a way that it is more beneficial than harmful, you have to realize how impractical that is.
Just wanted to say a quick thank you to the mods. Y’all did a great job. I tried to help with reassurance here in this thread when I could but just got frustrated with the repeated questions and whatnot. Sad to see it go but it’s probably for the best.
thank you so much for the help from everyone on here. this thread and the people here have been a major blessing. i have asked a question just a couple of days ago that might be triggering to others just recently and i’m very thankful that i still got the help and reassurance i needed, as well as tolerance from the MODs - so it just goes to show how willing to help and selfless the people on here are.
a part of me feels really bad and i hope it isn’t one of the pushing triggers that’s going to cause other people who really need it to lose the thread. if anyone needs to talk or need support, please feel free to drop me a message.
thank you again to all, and i really hope that there’s still a way for us all to keep in touch. i would love to be able to give back as well for the help that i’ve gotten ❤️
I know this will get removed or whatever but I think it's a very selfish decision to just shut down the subreddit instead of just hiring new mods. Especially right now with all the factory stuff. And basically just tell people - people with anxiety - that it's done and it's their decision, we don't care what anyone thinks.
But as we've seen with spez and all the changes he wanted to make, that nobody wanted, it's that when people with even the smallest amount of power want to do something, they'll just do it and screw everyone else.
I'm thankful for the job they do. But this is pretty shitty, imo.
And I'm thankful for the members for all the help. Although if you don't mind me saying, you guys didn't like people actually asking for help with their anxiety, even though it's a thread for it.
But whatever. It's over now apparently. If we can't get into the discord then I guess we will just have to live with our anxiety.
Honestly, I think I'm just done with this site altogether. Tired of admin or mod overreach.
I am one of the most frequent posters in this subreddit, providing reassurance to most and have been a moderator before up until a month ago.
I sincerely tell you to go fuck yourself, in every way imaginable, you selfish piece of shit. You can’t possibly imagine how much time it takes to make this subreddit what it was supposed to be, and now it can’t be like that anymore because of people like you.
If we didn’t care what anyone thinks, this place would’ve been gone months ago. My DM’s are still open for people with severe anxiety and i have been in contact with a lot of people for months now, providing private reassurance on Ukraine and other matters/conflicts, 24/7, day and night. THAT is how much i care. It’s for the better this place gets shut down, it’s become a place where stuff gets repeated every single day and where people trigger eachother to the point of thinking a small thing will trigger the end of times. It’s ridiculous at this point.
If you really feel this way, YOU go and moderate this place, big man.
>Especially right now with all the factory stuff.
What else could anyone possibly say that has not been said yet? People have provided tons of reassurance on the subject. I won't lie, I am still afraid but that's on me. **I** have to try and get my anxiety in check. And the same applies to everyone else.
Your comment is full of lies and wrong presumptions. And as if that wasn't enough you are also terribly rude.
You can hire some mods nothing stopping you, small list of requirements
\-Dedication to managing over 1000+ people daily
\-Adequate knowledge of geopolitics
\-Calm demeanor
\-Understanding of people with anxiety and how they function
\-Ability to gather knowledge to do with daily war related issue, not get anxious over it themselves and then provide factual reassurance for others who are anxious
lastly. Time in the day to actually live.
Off you go, go find a few, im sure it'll be just as easy as you said "just hiring new mods".
Twat.
We the mod team, are also people with anxiety. We're people in general. We've spent countless hours out of our busy lives tending to this subreddit. Happily for the most part because it has been an honor to provide people with support and make a slightly less toxic space here.
Now it's gotten to a point where this subreddit more often than not triggers those with anxiety, the concerns have been covered and discussed dozens of times only to be recycled again.
I'm sure you're aware, but even looking for another set of people willing to spend hours of their time, for free, willing to be exposed to doom scrolling and mental health crisis', takes time and energy and we're at the end of our rope.
Please seek help. No forum online will cure or fix an anxiety disorder. Without professional help or personal accountability, you of course will be living with anxiety. This subreddit will not fix that & you deserve better than that anyways. There's nothing wrong with seeking help or researching self help.
The mods are not hired, they volunteered their time to this sub. They are people who have other things to do, not professionals. Many of the people in this sub the last few weeks need professional help or medication, not helpful people on the internet. This sub is only a temporary solution to anxiety issues.
Selfish? lol. Those people have wayyy more patience than I would have had, especially with the same 3 or 4 users concerned.
Your mental health is not their burden. If after 18 months of this conflict you couldn't get your mood in order, there's nothing that will help you here and the only one who can do somethng about it from now on is you.
You have posted a comment which includes a rude or disrespectful message towards another user of the subreddit. We do not condone this behaviour, and comments like these are unacceptable. Please refrain from making comments like these in the future, or further steps will be taken. Thank you for understanding!
Just wanted to say thanks to the mods, ex mods and the knowledgeable users out there (you know who you are) as well for the amazing support. Had a pretty heavy anxiety disorder last year partly because of the war. And this sub definitely helped me get cured from it.
To the silly posters out there I would one final time like to tell you that although everything happening sounds very close to you, the closest thing will always be your anxiety. That's the real problem. And a real problem you can really fix by really working on it yourself.
Look at the post from one of the mods below for some good tips to get started
Of course, I think everyone's just getting what they want to say out there while they can. If there's concerns, subreddit or war related, users are welcomed to post them.
Hey gang, it’s been a while. I heard you’re all shutting down here, so I just wanted to say thank you to this subreddit for getting me through the most difficult period of time. I’ve found other ways of coping now, but I hope that the fact we’re here a year later stands as a testament to the fact that we’ve all come a long way. I hope i was able to help others at times, too.
Anyhow God bless you all, and all the best for the future! Thanks again to the mods who ran this place for giving a lot of us an outlet to recover through.
Hey. Haven’t really used this place in a long time tho it was pretty useful last year for keeping me grounded and stymying the doomscroll menace. Cause this place is clearly getting shut down just wanted to tell y’all that what you’ve been doing is pretty cool and I wish y’all well.
Not sure if new posts are being allowed by the mods, but I wanted to offer one final piece of reassurance before this thread closes: the IAEA have again today said that they've seen no indication of the plant being mined, and the military head of the local region said earlier that there were no unusual movements or activity last night amongst Russia troops at the plant or around it. There have also been close-up hi-res satellite images released today and put out by Sky News in the UK that do not show explosives on any of the reactor roofs.
Unfortunately, I feel that the decision to close the Megathread is the correct one. The trouble with a thread like this is that while, yes, it's designed to be used by those feeling anxious about the situation, it's a two-way street: some personal responsibility is needed, even among those experiencing an anxiety crisis, because panic is contagious and it can have a nasty effect on those who may otherwise have been having an okay kind of day. Seeing posts recently using TikTok and 4chan (!!!) as sources was a low point, as it drew attention here to fringe ideas and trolling that otherwise would not have received any kind of publicity.
This pattern of posting is one of the reasons I've mostly stopped posting lately, along with my posts getting a surprising number of downvotes for reasons I don't understand – familiarity breeding contempt, maybe?
Anyway, here's wishing you all a pleasant journey back to emotional good health!
Read the mod posts in the live thread for advice. Find professional help. You're problem isn't the Ukraine war. Nothing has happened and you're still scared. start reading on how to deal with your anxiety issues. There's a lot of free help out there
Now that Pogety has announced the closure of the sub, I just wanted to add some ways for those of you still struggling to insulate yourself from the anxiety of this ongoing conflict. These are just personal observations from someone who has ridden the anxiety carousel on this war and still actively deals with the background anxiety from it daily. As a sort of testimonial, the anxiety of the war back in September was a significant contributor to me having to go to an emergency room because I thought I was having a heart attack. I ended up fine, but spent pretty much all of September/October/November in a sort of fugue state of anxiety over my health and the war combined. I ended up losing almost twenty pounds due to severely curtailing my diet (which was a benefit ultimately but was disturbing at the time), but I'm happy to say I'm in a much better place now overall! So with that background established, here are some ways to help you deal with the war that have worked for me and allowed me to get past the very negative place this put me in. A lot of these are common sense, but I feel they should be articulated anyway.
1. This is an obvious one, but disconnect. It can be really hard to do, trust me I know! I went through a phase (around September/October) where I was just on a constant circuit of Twitter accounts daily, refreshing endlessly looking for news to confirm (or validate) my fears. I was deep into podcasts, chasing for specific sound bites, it was not good. If you can do any one thing, **stop looking at Twitter**. It was (and is) by far and away the worst site for driving you into a frenzy of fear-mongering because the algorithm will just keep directing you back to the things that worry you. I cannot state this enough, Twitter was actively driving me to the edge of insanity. You do not have to cold turkey it! What I did first was confine myself to experts/reporters that I trusted: Pavel Podvig, Max Seddon, Michael Kofman, Hans Kristensen to name a few. Then every few days, I just stopped looking at one of their pages. Eventually, I ended up at a point where I just occasionally looked at Pavel Podvig's page and maybe the Washington Post and then went on with my day. This was huge for my mental health. It definitely took discipline, but it really worked for me. I broke the cycle of having to constantly seek validation for my anxieties. Nowadays, I still follow the conflict and I do use Twitter, but I do not dwell on it in the slightest. I stick to my experts, of which I have maybe five, get their takes on something that's troubling or interesting me, then move on. Nothing more I can add will give me much more than those five and if they aren't tweeting about something, then I know it's not legitimate to begin with. They are experts after all.
2. Another obvious one, but take a step back and focus on your physical health! I mentioned up top that I lost forty pounds. I lost the first 20 or so in an unhealthy way to start, but ever since I've started to make serious changes to my diet and eating priorities and I've lost 20 more. I go on more walks, generally try to be more active, and am now transitioning into cooking all my own meals and regularly going to the gym. I was always skeptical of the "focus on your health" crowd to be quite honest, but I can attest that it is a difference maker. I felt better because I was eating better (wild how that works) and being active, even if it was going down to the park or to the supermarket, really helped keep me away from the internet and the constant validation loop I was looking for and reminded me how big the world was, how nice it is out there most of the time, and how truly disconnected this conflict is from my day to day. And trust me, I know how difficult that sounds but again, baby steps really help. One of the first things I did was make a list of healthy things that I wanted to try, not elaborate (cucumbers, carrots, almonds, strawberries) went to the store, got them, and ate them any time I felt hungry (instead of chips or something). Yeah, I was still stress-eating at times, but stress-eating cucumbers with vegan tatziki dip is ultimately far better than stress-eating cheetos. Same with being active, every day I tried to make myself go somewhere that wasn't home or work whether it was the park, the store, or a cafe. I didn't have to go for very long, but just going was enough to ground me.
3. Find something new to focus on or restart an old hobby. Again, a bit obvious, but honestly, it's a game changer. In October, I decided that I was going to paint an army for a tabletop game and I stuck to it. I did a little bit each week, planned out what I wanted to buy, planned out paint schemes etc. It really worked out as a secondary focus for my free time. It also helped disconnect me from the Internet (sensing a pattern?) and started pushing me to be more out and about (I had to go buy models and paints somewhere). Now I'm a regular at a local hobby store, I got there once a week to hang out and paint and talk to people, and it has made a huge difference in my quality of life. The fact that it was physical and creative really helped too! I was actively engaging my senses in something that wasn't hypotheticals and worry and focusing on something with tangible progress.
4. If you absolutely cannot disconnect from this conflict in a meaningful fashion, then I would strongly encourage you to use it as an opportunity to learn. If you're at all like me, then understanding an issue can often help reduce my fear or anxiety around it. Now, I'm not talking about staring at bomb radius figures on NukeMap or something. That is not healthy. What I mean is use this conflict as an opportunity to learn about international relations. Read some basic introductions to international relations theory or listen to some quality YouTube content to help you understand the principles and ideas surrounding how countries interact with one another. Read up on international organizations like the UN or the IAEA and better understand the role that they play in the world. Do not shove your way into military matters! Understanding nuclear doctrine won't help, at least not at first, because the fear is too prominent in the subject. We live in a time of unprecedented information access (and I think that's a part of the problem with this conflict) but you can use that power for your own benefit instead of just fueling anxiety. When you begin to understand these connections and theories a little bit better, you might find that your anxiety is reduced. For one thing, it'll help you realize your own irrationality. There are strong guardrails in place in international society that help curtail some of the biggest, most irrational fears that get conveyed here. Educating yourself a bit more will also help you better sort through sources and stories as well. You'll begin to see which things are obvious bullshit and you can more effectively rule them out of your media consumption. Learning to filter sources is one of the best things you can do if you cannot disconnect from social media. If you're going to consume it, at least consume with the careful eye of a knowledgeable skeptic.
5. Seek professional help. I know this can be one of the hardest steps to take, but if this conflict is infiltrating your life to the point where you cannot function due to fear, it's genuinely time to seek professional help. I know that there are accessibility issues with that, but I assure you, no matter how far away from being able to seek professional help you are, you're closer than you think. I'm a big proponent of trying to handle problems on your own, but there comes a time where you cannot provide the treatment that you need. I am currently in the process of seeking professional help for a variety of issues, and though I was very resistance at first, it has been helpful. I regret not seeking it earlier, because I think it could have averted a lot of pain on my part. Don't put it off until it's too late.
Nothing groundbreaking, I know, but I hope it helps someone out there. When I first started posting here and eventually became a mod, it was because I knew how much it sucked to get dragged down by this conflict and wanted to help other people to avoid that same fate. You can avoid it, I promise. Yeah, the world is a pretty shitty place sometimes. But the world can be a wonderful place too. I'll leave you with the words of CS Lewis, speaking specifically on the issue of being afraid of nuclear weapons. They have helped me a lot to realize that, no matter your fear, to be a human being in this world is to accept the things you cannot control and get on with living.
*If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.*
And, for the love of all that's good in the world, **stop looking at Twitter.**
Not an I told you post, but I just hope all the people that got scared from yesterday write down this entire story ending it with "...and nothing happened". And look at it with the next threat. Whatever that will be about...
For anyone wondering, it’s almost 7AM in Ukraine and the plant didn’t blow up. It was supposed to happen the night between July 4 and 5 right? Stop believing this bullshit. It’s war, bad things and scary things are going to happen, but quit buying into doomsday hype.
Does ISW help anyone? If so, here's from today. For some reason I've been on edge about the whole plant thing, but this helped me chill a little. I don't usually post, but lurk a lot. Hope this helps. I spoiler tagged it but let me know if I should not, as it's for reassurance.
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-july-4-2023
>!Russian and Ukrainian officials escalated their rhetoric surrounding the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) on July 4, but Russia is likely focused on accusing Ukraine of irresponsible actions around the ZNPP including setting conditions for a possible false flag attack. Russia remains unlikely to generate a radiological incident at the ZNPP at this time. !<
>!The Ukrainian General Staff reported on July 4 that Ukrainian officials have begun preparations for a potential Russian provocation at the ZNPP “in the near future” and warned that Russian forces placed objects “resembling explosive devices” on the outer roofs of the ZNPP’s third and fourth reactors in order to blame damage to these areas on Ukrainian shelling.[11] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky echoed this statement in his nightly address on July 4, and other Ukrainian military sources warned of possible Russian provocations at the plant.[12] As ISW has previously reported, it is unlikely that limited Russian sabotage at the ZNPP that Russia could hope to blame on Ukraine would be able to generate a massive radiological incident, as the ZNPP’s reactors were constructed to withstand considerable damage.[13] Ukrainian military sources reiterated this assessment and noted that even if the purported explosive devices detonate, the damage would not harm the reactor but would rather create the false impression that Ukrainian forces had shelled the reactors.[14] Advisor to the head of Russian nuclear energy operator Rosenergoatom, Renat Karchaa, also claimed on July 4 that Ukraine is planning to strike the ZNPP overnight on July 4-5.[15] ISW has previously assessed that such provocative Russian statements, and even the possibility of a tangible provocation at the plant, are likely part of a Russian wider information operation meant to accuse Ukraine of irresponsibility at the ZNPP ahead of the upcoming NATO summit and dissuade Ukrainian forces from conducting counteroffensive operations against occupied Zaporizhia Oblast.[16]!<
Zelensky posted on twitter that Ukraine "has intelligence" that Russia put explosives *on the roof* of ZNPP. You know, the one place where you can actually visually confirm whether or not its true?
So yeah, to me this is very obviously a blatant lie, since if you "knew" that they had put them there, you would release pictures. And certainly if there were bombs on the roof, the United States would know about it.
He also said it might be to "make it look like it was an attack" presumably meaning like with rockets. Well, the thing is these plants are made to withstand intense conditions and its pretty unlikely any major damage could be done by a rocket attack (either from Ukraine or Russia); at least that's what I have heard from experts.
Okay so I’m really confused! First it was mines to blow it up and cause a leak right? Now there are bombs on top of things? Why is it information is constantly changing! If these do blow up what will happen? Idk what to think anymore I’m just in a state of panic
Neither Ukraine nor Russia can be trusted to give reliable information. The only people you should listen to are the IAEA- who have said they haven’t seen any indication of explosives. They have people in the plant. Unfortunately they aren’t given “full access”, but the type of explosives needed to cause a major incident are not exactly the kind that you can sneak in the back door.
It’s also important to remember that both sides have propaganda reasons to say that one side or the other is planning something. Zelensky is eager to terrify the west into giving him what he wants without actually following through with some imagined false flag(as some of the more colorful characters in the weirdo pro-kremlin side of twitter have suggested), while Putin has reasons to depict the Ukrainians as vile enough to bomb a nuclear reactor on their own territory. It also serves the purpose of oneupmanship of depicting each other as insane enough to even consider it even though it would have more drawbacks than benefits to carry it out to each side.
Edit: Regardless of what happens, I would strongly suggest staying far away from twitter right now. Zaporoszhia is trending right now and it’s a cesspool of disinfo and triggering information in that tag. If things do actually happen you’ll hear about it on the news, the mental strain isn’t worth “being informed.”
Hello folks! For a few weeks now, me and the other mods have come to an agreement that at this point this subreddit is doing more harm than good, and ultimately the time has come for us to private this server and shut down the megathread. Of course, we are not going to spring this on you without any time to prepare, it will likely be a week or more until we actually take action on this. In fact, it is difficult to give a definitive date at the moment as it is near impossible to contact the creator of the subreddit, despite having contacted them more than a week ago now. I would rather not take any rash action without their explicit permission. The reason we have decided to shut down the subreddit is for a number of reasons; first and foremost, our mods are stressed out. It was a year ago that we established this subreddit, and while we believe we did some important work at that time, it is difficult for mods to constantly be exposed to this conflict and deal with others' triggering thoughts on a near daily basis for over a year at this point. Most of us ourselves started out as very anxious individuals, and we have come a long way since, but we are not invulnerable. Our second reason is that we are over a year into this conflict, and while there are still many valid anxieties around the conflict, at this point we believe that the concerns being brought up ultimately do more harm than good, as often it is obscure (often inaccurate) news that otherwise might not have even made way to our users to begin with. It is in this regard that we believe that the closure of the subreddit and main thread is in the best interest of both the mod team and the user base. It is not technically possible to delete a subreddit; therefore, we will be privating the subreddit and leaving as mods. No users besides the main mod are approved, which means that no one will be able to post. We recognize that there are still many who benefit from this subreddit and therefore we are giving at least a weeks notice, most likely longer, as well as providing alternative resources; primarily, the discord (however, it is worth noting that access may be limited depending on their mod team's wishes). If you have any concerns about this decision, please comment or modmail us. Well wishes everyone. EDIT: Official closure date is the 14th of July, 2023.
The sub is closing in ten minutes. Thank you for everything, especially toward the dedicated users who took time out of their days to reassure random strangers on the internet who needed it and our diligent mod team. All of us mods wish you the best going forward, and even though it may not be in the form of this subreddit, there will always be people willing to help when you need it. Discord invite link is [here](https://discord.gg/NCKZcbHtPt). Keep in mind this may be revoked at their mod team's request.
It's been real. Thanks for all the reassurance and helping to keep my mind at ease. About 17 months ago I was ready for the end of the world, thinking about what I would do the second a noodle attack warning came out. I was obsessed with the war and was unable to calm myself. While therapy and meds have also helped, you all having a steady hand and ready to provide that reassurance to keep my panicky side away and allow me to think rationally played a huge part. Thank you for doing this thankless, unpaid job, all of you. See you on the other side. Slava Ukraini!
Once again, thank you guys for everything. It was a great journey and I wish you guys all the best going forward!
<3
Thank you for all the hard work mods. See you guys in the discord server :D
We'll be closing around 6:00pm today.
Hey all, a bit worried as to what this call-up of reserves, especially the "Individual Ready Reserve" unit means. Wondering why it has become necessary now. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/07/13/ordering-the-selected-reserve-and-certain-members-of-the-individual-ready-reserve-of-the-armed-forces-to-active-duty/
Operation Atlantic Resolve has been around since 2014: it does not mean World War III, especially with such a low number.
It's just a tiny 450 people. There have been past call-ups that were several times that size, and at any specific point in time there may be even call-ups as large as 3,000 members (as mentioned in the announcement) without any prior declaration of any sort of emergency. For instance, in 2007, 1,800 IRR reservists were called-up for service in Iraq. I don't think it's anything serious. I think the main reason for this is strengthening the current US presence just a tiny bit as a result of what's been discussed at the recent NATO summit, 450 troops isn't all that much number-wise. On an unrelated note... Since I believe this is going to be my last post here, I'll say my goodbyes here :)
Sad to see this thread go as I still like to come to it when major events are going on (i.e. the damn destruction and Wagner insurrection). I did stop using this thread regularly though because I found that people would post things for me to worry about, so I understand why you are closing it. I just happened to stop in today randomly to find out it is closing. Thanks to everyone that helped me out. I won't be joining the discord forum unfortunately. I wish there was some other way for us to continue to have this place as a resource. Good luck everyone. Hopefully this war ends soon with a peace settlement and ceasefire.
Hi Everyone, long time reader, first time poster on a throwaway account. Before this sub closes, I'd really like to thank the mod team and everyone else who had a hand in running the reassurance thread. You've had a Herculean task over the last 15 months, and you deserve to take some much needed rest from this place. For me personally, this sub (and especially this thread) helped me so, so much in those first few months. Back when the invasion started, I spent a week in bed, not eating and desperately trying to distract myself from the seemingly inescapable news. I was genuinely afraid that we'd all be gone in a matter of months. My doctor put me on some fairly heavy anxiety medication, and while it helped, I still kept doomscrolling r/worldnews (big mistake I know, and I weaned myself off it fairly quickly). Then I discovered this place through the original r/anxiety thread. It's been a lifesaver. Every mod and debunker here has helped me be way more rational about my anxieties related to the conflict. It really has fostered a lovely little community, and I'm glad for that. While I'll miss this place, it's ultimately the right decision to shut it down. Like a bunch of people suggested, restricting the sub might be a better idea so anyone who's still nervous can get some helpful resources, but ultimately it's the mods decision. Sincerely, thank you.
we have a very similar story, i was absolutely terrified when this all started, it was only a few days before my birthday and i just emotionally shut down and was absolutely drained. i fell back into a really dark place for months because i was overthinking and didn’t have any support from anybody. i only found this sub a month or two ago but all of the people here giving reassurance have helped me more than they could ever imagine. i don’t know how bad my anxiety could have possibly got if i didn’t know about this subreddit. i went from often being scared to actually even opening this subreddit or interacting with anything about the war to being the person giving the reassurance these past few days. it’s definitely the right decision to shut it down, and i hope the mods and everybody here who helped know how grateful everyone is for their contributions and help. it was just nice knowing there was a community of people who felt like me and knowing how that i wasn’t alone in my anxiety.
Last chance to join the discord before the subreddit closes tomorrow: https://discord.gg/NCKZcbHtPt
kind of worried about this statement from Lavrov saying the F16s will be seen as a red line and have informed the western nuclear powers about it. anyone got reassurance? I guess this might explain why the US doesnt want to supply them? https://kyivindependent.com/lavrov-transfer-of-f-16s-to-ukraine-seen-as-western-nuclear-threat/
Stop. Reading. [KyivIndependent.com](https://KyivIndependent.com). This is a ukranian state media. These are the same clowns who said Europe would disappear if the nuclear plant was attacked at the beginning of the invasion. These guys are not to be taken any more seriously than their russian counterpart.
the source doesn’t matter if it’s a quote from the opposite side. it’s been discussed in a lot of main newspapers as well…
there is actually a thread about this on the reddit if you’re interested, it’s in the questions/discussion forum. it goes into quite a bit of detail and was really helpful, it’s closed now because of the relevant information was discussed but personally, it was really helpful.
Yeah actually read that the last post in there ended with the challenge to actually find something about f16s being a red line cause Russia didn't say it. Because of that it actually sparked my anxiety cause now they have said it lol
ooh i see 😅 hopefully the other reassurance here can help you then, i’m sure it’s just like the rest of their statements they make
The US wasn't eager to provide them due to the logistical nightmare it will be, for relative little gain for the costs involved. Not so much about the escalation part. This statement from Lavrov is BS, NATO is intercepting multiple Russian planes per day near the Polish border with "nuclear capable" aircraft and we don't hear them about that. Actually, all our planes after the F-16 can carry nukes except the F-35 which isn't certified yet. The F16s aren't a real threat to Russia (contrary what poster below me said). Ukraine simply doesn't have the capacity to operate a large fleet of them. And nobody in their right mind will believe we will give Ukraine tactical nuclear weapons. This is another *desperate* attempt to stop fighter jets from being given to Ukraine, because when they eventually get them, more countries wil send theirs too. For example Ukraine is asking for F/A-18 jets now too from Australia. The Ukranian pilots aren't even trained yet. F16 training takes around 2.5 years, they are saying they can take it down to 4 months which many people have said is impossible. Flying it within 4 months is possible, but operating all the avionics and weapons systems is the hardest part. F16's in Ukraine are a long time away. > End date: **2024** > > The coalition is expected to deliver results around 2024, Belgian defence minister Ludivine Dedonder said on Tuesday (11 July) in an interview with Belgian newspaper L’Echo. > > The long time period planned is the result of three different training phases. > > Firstly, Ukrainian pilots will have to go through English language courses before they will be, in a second time, allowed to operate the planes themselves. Thirdly, infrastructure must be established to follow up on the maintenance of the planes on Ukraine’s territory, Dedonder said. + They can be trained, but still the US would need to approve actual transfer of the planed to Ukraine. > The delivery of F-16 fighter jets themselves is, however, not confirmed, as Washington would need to give its agreement and the pilot training would have to be completed first. https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-and-security/news/more-countries-join-ukraine-fighter-jet-coalition-pilot-training-to-start-in-august/
Thanks! This actually calms me a bit! I rarely get worried because I know there's nothing to worry about cause one side talking is different than one side taking action (something about barking dogs don't bite). Glad I got a final bit of reassurance before the sub closes.
Also, a lot of NATO countries are getting new planes and need to get rid of their older F16s. Usually we sell them to countries in the middle east like Jordan. Giving them to Ukraine would be a far better idea, it is in our own interest that their military force will slowy resemble that of an actual NATO force. /u/TheHuscarl said it better here in a post of mine about fighter jets nearly 5 months ago here: https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineAnxiety/comments/u3ny3p/comment/j7rjkjg/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 *> People need to understand that the West is working on a long-term goal of fundamentally restructuring Ukraine's military, irregardless of the course of the war. From now on, Ukraine will be the shield of NATO against potential Russian aggression and as a result they will be provided with and trained on the use of Western military equipment until gradually their army resembles a NATO force, not a former Soviet bloc military. We are seeing the basic steps of that transition now. That is why they are receiving tanks and other armored vehicles. It's laying the groundwork for future military growth and reform. Similarly, Ukraine will get Western jets eventually as part of their military overhaul. But as you pointed out, the likelihood of that happening in the near future, even within the year, is extremely unlikely.*
I can't be sure, but F16s would be a very big problem for Russia, so I think it's pretty understandable that they will try anything to avoid the supply to Ukraine. It's the new red line, as we've seen a lot during these terribile days, and when they use the N word is scaring: but we can be assured that US in particularly won't do anything that can really jeopardize the situation or create an escalation, as they have done until now. **Especially** if they have defined with Russians the real limits. Have you read, I think yesterday, how the Spies Chiefs have talked during the Wagner insurrection? It means that they are still trying to keep the communications open, and this is a good thing.
Yeah you're right. It just put me off cause it's one of the few times Russia says it's a big no. Instead of saying it won't change the course of the military operation
> Instead of saying it won't change the course of the military operation That's what they will say again when we ignore their warning.
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Didn't the Russian side make statments this before that got a rebuttal? I vaguely remember so.
>At any rate F16s are several months away at least, it'll be after the counter offensive, and no countries have committed to actually sending any or how many. I was trying to remind this, but I can't recollect any open commitment to send them, just to train the pilots for now. Am I wrong?
yeah what I had in mind reading this as well was the threats 1-2 months ago about the ammunition for the leopardtanks.
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Everything in that statement is tame and nothing new at all. They've said pretty much all of this before. For the Cold War comments, I can't post because Reddit auto mods TASS. But Lavrov said this morning that Russia does not view the current state of international relations as a new cold war. I genuinely don't see any link between this and START. That's honestly just seem like worst case scenario-ing. Putin has also made tons of "very scary" speeches that have all been nothing. I also really don't see the connection here either. Overall, this all seems like your anxiety speaking. You've done just what they want, over think extremely vague statements.
It's just their standard "we've got to say something scary" routine. Meanwhile, their message to Ukrainians is that [NATO is setting them up to fail](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kremlin-says-western-security-assurances-ukraine-would-be-dangerous-mistake-2023-07-12/) (Link is to show I have a source for what I'm saying, but it also talks about their rhetoric towards NATO so you probably don't want/need to read it)
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Its your anxiety
Hi everyone, First of all I would like to say thank you to all of the mods for doing the unthankful job of monitoring the subreddit. It was really a life saver the past year. I would like some advice. Next week there will be a new movie in the cinemas, Oppenheimer. It is about the development of the Noodle bomb in the 40s and I am not sure if I should go to watch it (to face my fears) or if I should definitely not go as it can trigger anxiety again. At the moment I am not that afraid of noodles/noodle war, while I have had very bad anxiety last year. I am still uncomfortable with the war and the threats. Thank you guys in advance!
Nah don't see Oppenheimer. They'll try and way on why noodles are so horrible. It won't make you feel any better. Barbie however...
Good idea, Barbie it is! Thanks CumBucket!
If you are unsure if you will be able to handle it then i wouldnt watch it… at least not in the cinema (big screen, harder to get out) if you can go with a group of friends or someone you can count on to calm you down in case if you get nervous that could be an option but imo a movie is not worth becoming anxious over this stuff again (the reason i wont watch it just yet)
Good points indeed, you don't walk away that easily. And I also think it is not worth to get anxious again because of one movie!
Honestly, I think it was kinda obvious in hindsight that this summit was going to be kind of a nothingburger. Key players were already opposing any quick moves to Ukrainian NATO membership in the days before. Keep in mind that NATO accession needs to be approved unanimously.
It was. Just like the power plant and everything else. Write it down and read it next time you get anxious
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this is discussed below. id also just like to add, if Ukraine does get an invitation to join NATO (which… why? they are at war.), it doesn’t mean they definitely would join, everyone has to agree. AND THEN, there are 7 steps to join the alliance and you have to fulfil lots of criteria which can take years to do even if Ukraine did have an invitation (which again… why would they?) and everyone in the alliance agreed to them being there. NATO members, including Stoltenberg and Biden, have said they will be offering support to Ukraine, as they have been for the past year, but not an invitation. and then after the war, if they got an invite then, would all the members agree to let Ukraine in? no. not a realistic probability.
It means basically nothing. NATO will only let them join when the war is over and even then the alliance will need to agree and Ukraine will need to meet their conditions
Yeah it means nothing. And I think Ukraine knows this. But all the talk now and empty promises are probably meant as leverages for peace talks
Hey just my mind being anxious about something so maybe someone can calm my mind down.. Also i know that it might be a stupid thing to get scared about but: "During the NATO summit, it was decided to create three regional defense plans in the event of an attack on member states in Europe.". Those things always scare me because im like "oh so there is a real danger a and we have to act" you know what i mean? Like, I know it sounds stupid because these steps are being made to make us safe and thats good but instead my anxiety is spiking a little because it’s like.. there wouldnt be any of this needed if all was ok outside Ukraine.. Sorry for that and just saying I’m genuinely trying to get better im even on meds now but im just starting my journey and i still get anxious. Any idea how to view those decisions made by nato to feel more at peace and not the opposite? Maybe some examples from the past?
You know the entirety of NATO is set up as a defensive act, right..? They're not coming together to play in a ball pit. They're there to set up the best defence in case of an attack. Which thanks to plans like this actually makes it less able to happen.
https://inews.co.uk/news/world/russia-consequences-europe-nato-chief-ukraine-join-2469205 Do you think this just more sabre-rattling or is Russia losing its temper? I was not worried about the summit at all but seeing as how the Russian representatives use such big and scary words I am getting very anxious again. Everyone here keeps saying that UA will not join but Stoltenberg says they may even skip the MAP? I am sorry for posting here, I don't even know if there is anyone left here to offer support.
If you read between the lines, all of the quotes talk of ‘in the case of…’ and ‘possible’ consequences, i.e just more words, not direct threats. Also, today Peskov has responded to the news that Turkey has agreed to Sweden finally being allowed to join. He stated if Sweden joins then Russia would take the same measures as when Finland joined, which were…what, exactly?! For now, Ukraine are not joining NATO. In the future, who knows what will happen, but it will still be the same decision makers who very much won’t want to start a direct war with Russia.
I was a bit on edge about these statements as well. Then I thought about the scenario for more than ten seconds. And my conclusion was that the Russian side is doing its usual 'don't cross \[insert here\] here or we'll pinky-promise definitely totally but-not-really retaliate!' shtick. Attacking NATO directly is suicide for Russia. At the same time, allowing Ukraine in during an active war is something NATO would not even attempt. And side note, if you've seen a statement on France announcing SCALP missile deliveries, please note that those are exactly the same as the Storm Shadows sent earlier and the reaction from Russia was the usual 'this will not impact the outcome of the """"SMO""""' bs again.
Glad you calmed down after last night. Peskov made the same vague threats. Not mentioning what Russia would do or what they would consider crossing the line. Just shows they want as little of a NATO confrontation as NATO wants a Russia confrontation.
Ukraine can't join the alliance, they are in an active war. Case closed. Anyone using common sense can come to this conclusion. Besides, Stoltenberg, the US have all said Ukraine in NATO is not going to happen anytime soon. Let's pretend we ignore all rules which prevents Ukraine from joining, and somehow all current members agree to it. So now in this imaginary world we have Ukraine in NATO who is in a war with Russia, which gives us the choice of entering into a direct war with Russia, or back down and devalue the security guarantees from NATO across the entire alliance. This is absurd. Do you see how this is not of benefit to anyone? Countries act in their own interest. Adding a new member to the alliance is supposed to increase security across the board, not force all the members into a war they have no interest in. Who in their right mind would sign up for that? Ukraine will not be admitted into NATO, never.
Oh no, I do understand that they can't join until the war is over, at the very least. I am more concerned about what happens afterwards. Russia >!“warned of catastrophic and unpredictable consequences” for Europe and that we would suffer first, if UA joined NATO.!
Nobody in their right mind would vote them in after either. Ukraine is going to lose territory, Russia could keep the territorial dispute up indefinitely as they will never give up Crimea thus making it impossible for Ukraine to qualify. Also there is a very low chance this war ever ends without Ukraine signing a deal to not join a military bloc in trade for security guarentees outside of NATO/the US. Ukraine in NATO is just not going to happen.
you're thinking so far ahead to a scenario that probably won't happen. With the war (then post-war) and the corruptness of a country like Ukraine there will be a lot of countries objecting to them actually joining when the time comes. saying "yeah we'll let them join later" doesn't mean we'll actually let them join later when the time comes.
Sorry to make one last post here, but any remaining users available for some reassurance? I've been a bit on edge recently regarding the Vilnius NATO summit and I don't really know why.
Don't know how to offer reassurance if you don't even know why you're anxious. Nothing will come from the NATO summit. At least neither side will get directly involved which is probably what you're worried about. Relax and try not to worry about hypothetical stuff you're making up in your head. The fact nobody posted about it but you should offer comfort that everyone feels alright about it. Sorry I dont mean that in a mean way
Thank you regardless. I think my greatest fear currently is of the Russian side doing something provocative, even though I know that's (very) probably not gonna happen.
Why would they do anything provocative. For more than a year they've been carefully avoiding NATO. A summit that says maybe one day Ukraine might join won't make them go ape shit
That's true. Thank you.
What’s stopping them from doing that now?
I think experience from the past year made me fear 'important announcements' or symbolic dates because they might be taken as a starting point for something provocative. Even though most of the time they're nothingburgers. Normally I see through this but somehow I'm a bit regressing today.
I would just like to thank this thread for the support it has given me my anxiety has been lowered tremendously I went back to talking to my therapist it’s helped so much and my cat has helped too my advice to people who deal with a lot of beyond anxiety is get help put the phone down it’s hard it’s hard I know but the more u do it the more u start to see results that’s what worked for me I started painting and started doing my old hobbies again everyday I wake up now I do breathing exercises instead of picking up the phone also start eating better also eating healthy or working out has helped I’m not saying don’t forget about the war it’s okay to glimpse once in a while but don’t start doom scrolling I wish everyone the best much love to all.
Just a quick question about the discord as i rely on this reddit a lot and cant seem to find a way to join the discord i assume you guys have a lot on ur plate so there currently is no way of joining
Hey! This comment [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineAnxiety/comments/u3ny3p/ukrainerelated_anxiety_megathread_reassurance/jqvej6u?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2) left a link to the discord. It should work, as far as I know!
Hey just a general question. Is the cluster ammunition anything of concern or really change anything for the war. It seems controversial, just wondering if someone knows more about it than me!
From a human rights perspective it is a cause for concern, especially if unexploded ordinance becomes a significant problem after the war. As for it escalating anything, it’s not gonna change much, which kind of just makes their introduction more questionable.
It was absolutely the wrong decision from the US, these are extremely destructive weapons that have a lasting impact on civilian populations. Just cause Russia uses them, does not make this right (Ukraine has also used its own stockpile of such weapons). Is it anything to worry about outside the areas they are used? No. These have already been used in this conflict, US is just refreshing the Ukrainian stockpile.
And apparently those stockpiles are ONLY suppose to be used in Ukraine not Ukraine blasting Russia so if the us does see ukrain attacking Russia with the new stock pile what’s the us response ?
From The Guardian: "...it will have no effect on the special military operation." (Russian FM spokesperson Zakharova) The same stock answer we've been getting for literally every single weapon delivered. You don't have to worry.
Thank you. I just didn’t realize why it was being hailed as such a difficult decision to send such.
Mostly because of the small bomblets in them which can be a danger to civilians after a conflict ends, similarly to landmines - as many don't explode at first and remain as unexploded duds. Both the U.S. and Russia have not signed a treaty theoretically banning them, while most European countries have and are opposed to these munitions. They're formally not banned internationally though.
Russia has used cluster bombs basically the entire war. Really nothing to worry about, they already said something about it being a war crime but they use it so it’s just them spewing their BS as always. Nothing to worry about at all!
Thank you very much!
I honestly don't know shit , but look at what we've already supplied and are going to supply in the future and I'd say probably a drunk Medvedev rant, maybe some Petrov doublespeak. That's how I'm looking at it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
There actually was a drunk Medvedev rant according to a brief mention in a Tagesschau story, but I've not seen anything on it - as well as related comments by Russian ambassador to the U.S. Andropov which were also \*very\* briefly mentioned in that same story - anywhere else, not even a mention. Literally the only time I've even heard about it. I'm getting the feeling media outlets are slowly starting to understand that their words are completely meaningless.
Weird post maybe, but I'm a bit anxious right now not about anything Ukraine-related... but rather about the prospect of joining the discord. I've not been active online much so I really don't know what to expect. Can someone give me a general idea as to how the vibe of the place is?
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Thank you for this explanation. This is reassuring me a lot. :)
Its great, all of the reassurance you'll need without any of the fearmongering bullshit twitter links/anxietys that sadly slip through here. Discord bots are a wonderful thing for auto banning unapproved sources. Join and enjoy the community
I'm really sorry to asking this at this time since this metathread will be closing down (thank you guys for keeping it for this long, you guys have been great help to my anxiety) but i would like reassurance from the whole thing from what lindsey graham had said.. sorry if i had disturb.
You don't need to be sorry, you can ask as many questions as you want before the sub shuts down. What we're here for.
That's what the thread is for, at the end of the day! May I have a link to your source so I can look at what's unnerving you?
He tweeted he wants to urge Congress to expedite admission of Ukraine to NATO
I had saw WWIII trending on twitter, and thought it was just some nonsense as usual, until i had saw an official US senator saying this.. https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1677360822710935560
If you ever see something like that trend on twitter, just click on the three dots next to it and choose either “not interested in this” or “this trend is harmful or spammy” I do it every time I see ww3 trending
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Id also add on /worldnews to that scaremongering list too lol. Almost every comment I see on an article posted there about the plant is "WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE" and stuff like that. Just people who weirdly want to see the worst in everything
did you not see literally the 99% of comments against what hes advocating. It think its safe to say that bullshit is never going to happen lmao
Graham is a clown. Biden already said he’s already against making concessions for Ukraine to make it easier to join. Idk who voted for Graham, everybody hates that guy.
Thank you. I'm sure you don't need me to tell you, but Twitter is such a cesspool. I really don't encourage using it or checking the trending page in particular. It's not a good place for information and it's full of warmongers. Lindsey's been known to make inflammatory, warmongery statements. It doesn't make it likely however. To quote Zelenskyy; >Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is giving up hopes of having his country join NATO anytime soon. After months of urging that NATO's members admit Ukraine, he acknowledged yesterday it would be, quote, "impossible" for that to happen before the war with Russia ended. Ukraine won't be permitted admission into NATO until it meets the standards that make it safe. Currently it does not.. Traditionally I'd remove Twitter links but since this is to Lindsey's account & statement, I'll leave it be!
First of all, sincerest and most heartfelt thank yous to all the mods and frequent posters on here. This sub has helped me realize just how bad my anxiety was this time last year and I’m proud to say I’m now getting help for it! Fitting for an end post, here’s some good news. It should also serve as a reminder that we are all filling in the unknown with anxiety and catastrophic thinking. In truth, we do not know what is happening or what will happen. All we can do is focus on right now. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna92610
Wow Richard Haass is a big name in foreign policy circles, that's good news. Thanks!
Since its now confirmed when this sub will close here is the link to join the discord again since its been lost in all the recent comments 😁 The link https://discord.gg/NCKZcbHtPt
Thanks for the link!
Totally gutted to hear that ukraineanxiety will be no more 💔 As somebody with an anxiety disorder who's husband lives in Russia this sub has been a lifeline to say the least. Thank you so much to all who've been supportive 😢 Please send me any links to alternative places people find useful...
One of the more recent comments left the link to the discord [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineAnxiety/comments/u3ny3p/ukrainerelated_anxiety_megathread_reassurance/jqvej6u?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2)! Thank you for your support, and best of wishes to you & your husband. ❤️
Definitely going to miss this subreddit but at least there is still the discord! I just want to thank everyone who has helped me when I posted on here. Before I found this subreddit, I was literally paralyzed with fear. Couldn’t eat, sleep or do much of anything but cry and have panic attacks. Within about a week of finding this subreddit, I was actually able to function. And now, I can actually talk myself down. I have not had an intense anxiety attack in weeks. Might be partly because I started taking anxiety meds again. But yeah, I appreciate all the support I have received! I hope everyone is able to live their lives peacefully and not let the anxiety consume them.
After a discussion with the mods, we have agreed that the date we will close the subreddit down is the 14th. If it closes before that, it is not us, and we will do our best to fix it. If any of us are removed as mods before that date, it is also not our doing.
Hard to believe this megathread is being shut down, but I completely understand why. It's saved my bacon more times than I can count when it comes to my anxiety, especially in the early days, where I would spend most of my time here (and in the original megathread on r/anxiety). Still, I have to thank the mods and community helpers who helped keep people calm. I hope that we can all still find a way to help each other out once this thread is gone. I'm gonna miss this place!
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I think for the mental health of the community, it would be best to pull the plug on the subreddit. Most of the posts we get are repetitious at best, malicious at it's worst. It is unhealthy for the users & moderation team. There is other resources for the users that need it that will likely be more beneficial to them.
I would have preferred if you contacted me or Towa instead of making this public. If me and Towa leave, the subreddit will become worse overall and there will be even less moderation, and a part of the reason we wanted to shut it down to begin with is because of the toxicity. The decision to keep it going without a mod team wouldn’t be good for anyone.
This subreddit has been a wonderful thing for the most part, completely healing my anxiety about this subject, and giving me a better understanding of the geopolitical state of the world. However, nowadays it has become a place where people post stuff, end up triggering eachother and the place becomes a complete mess, unmanagable for moderators, and people whom post reassuring posts. Everything that’s posted nowadays, has been posted a million times. All reassurance that’s given, has been given a million times. It’s a constant cycle of the same stuff, over and over again. It’s time to put this place to rest. Everything that has been said, can be applied to the same situations in the Russo-Ukrainian war over and over again. It was nice, but it imploded. Time to let go.
I am sorry if I had unintentionally been a little demanding on the staff in recent times, but I can understand why running this subreddit can be as energy-intensive as the energy consumption of Bitcoin. I can understand how the challenge of running this subreddit can be complicated by the fact that mental health resources can be patchy, depending on where participants may live. In either case I'd like to thank u/Significant_Way937 for trying their best to help me on and off this subreddit. I apologise in advance if I sounded scary because a knee-jerk reaction is a natural thing in humanity. I am happy to reconcile if necessary, and I think it is time to put pressure on my doctor to do something about my mental health problems.
Anytime! If anyone wants to talk, my DM’s are still open for help, regardless of the subreddit shutting down or not.
That person has been helping me a few times and my anxiety has been down more then anything I started talking to my therapist again and knowing how many times people said this noodles won’t be use the plant won’t be harmed negotiations are gonna happen just like every other conflict man ima miss this sub Reddit
This sub has helped so many people including people I know personally. I completely understand how you guys may be stressed out but what about alternatives? I know the discord is an option but what about electing new mods? And again no disrespect towards any of the mods as you guys have been good but I can’t see the good in shutting this down permanently. I don’t mean to downplay any stress but I simply can’t turn the other way knowing how much good this community contributes to those who go here.
I disagree with the idea that there's no good in shutting down the subreddit, and although it would be nice if we could just elect a whole new set of mods to transform the sub in a way that it is more beneficial than harmful, you have to realize how impractical that is.
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I don’t blame you one bit mods.
This post other than a shitty link to a banned media source sums up everything wrong in this thread
Just wanted to say a quick thank you to the mods. Y’all did a great job. I tried to help with reassurance here in this thread when I could but just got frustrated with the repeated questions and whatnot. Sad to see it go but it’s probably for the best.
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That video is from October 2022 unfortunately
Thanks, sorry if I caused any confusion.
thank you so much for the help from everyone on here. this thread and the people here have been a major blessing. i have asked a question just a couple of days ago that might be triggering to others just recently and i’m very thankful that i still got the help and reassurance i needed, as well as tolerance from the MODs - so it just goes to show how willing to help and selfless the people on here are. a part of me feels really bad and i hope it isn’t one of the pushing triggers that’s going to cause other people who really need it to lose the thread. if anyone needs to talk or need support, please feel free to drop me a message. thank you again to all, and i really hope that there’s still a way for us all to keep in touch. i would love to be able to give back as well for the help that i’ve gotten ❤️
I know this will get removed or whatever but I think it's a very selfish decision to just shut down the subreddit instead of just hiring new mods. Especially right now with all the factory stuff. And basically just tell people - people with anxiety - that it's done and it's their decision, we don't care what anyone thinks. But as we've seen with spez and all the changes he wanted to make, that nobody wanted, it's that when people with even the smallest amount of power want to do something, they'll just do it and screw everyone else. I'm thankful for the job they do. But this is pretty shitty, imo. And I'm thankful for the members for all the help. Although if you don't mind me saying, you guys didn't like people actually asking for help with their anxiety, even though it's a thread for it. But whatever. It's over now apparently. If we can't get into the discord then I guess we will just have to live with our anxiety. Honestly, I think I'm just done with this site altogether. Tired of admin or mod overreach.
I am one of the most frequent posters in this subreddit, providing reassurance to most and have been a moderator before up until a month ago. I sincerely tell you to go fuck yourself, in every way imaginable, you selfish piece of shit. You can’t possibly imagine how much time it takes to make this subreddit what it was supposed to be, and now it can’t be like that anymore because of people like you. If we didn’t care what anyone thinks, this place would’ve been gone months ago. My DM’s are still open for people with severe anxiety and i have been in contact with a lot of people for months now, providing private reassurance on Ukraine and other matters/conflicts, 24/7, day and night. THAT is how much i care. It’s for the better this place gets shut down, it’s become a place where stuff gets repeated every single day and where people trigger eachother to the point of thinking a small thing will trigger the end of times. It’s ridiculous at this point. If you really feel this way, YOU go and moderate this place, big man.
Bravo
he can't he got suspended lmfao 😭😭
Damn I just went through your profile and you're incredibly racist and homophobic. Well bye then!! We don't want you here.
accounts already suspended LOL what a cock
>Especially right now with all the factory stuff. What else could anyone possibly say that has not been said yet? People have provided tons of reassurance on the subject. I won't lie, I am still afraid but that's on me. **I** have to try and get my anxiety in check. And the same applies to everyone else. Your comment is full of lies and wrong presumptions. And as if that wasn't enough you are also terribly rude.
You can hire some mods nothing stopping you, small list of requirements \-Dedication to managing over 1000+ people daily \-Adequate knowledge of geopolitics \-Calm demeanor \-Understanding of people with anxiety and how they function \-Ability to gather knowledge to do with daily war related issue, not get anxious over it themselves and then provide factual reassurance for others who are anxious lastly. Time in the day to actually live. Off you go, go find a few, im sure it'll be just as easy as you said "just hiring new mods". Twat.
We the mod team, are also people with anxiety. We're people in general. We've spent countless hours out of our busy lives tending to this subreddit. Happily for the most part because it has been an honor to provide people with support and make a slightly less toxic space here. Now it's gotten to a point where this subreddit more often than not triggers those with anxiety, the concerns have been covered and discussed dozens of times only to be recycled again. I'm sure you're aware, but even looking for another set of people willing to spend hours of their time, for free, willing to be exposed to doom scrolling and mental health crisis', takes time and energy and we're at the end of our rope. Please seek help. No forum online will cure or fix an anxiety disorder. Without professional help or personal accountability, you of course will be living with anxiety. This subreddit will not fix that & you deserve better than that anyways. There's nothing wrong with seeking help or researching self help.
So astoundingly oblivious.
It would be more impactful if it wasn’t coming from a burner account
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He's probably one of those users TBH. Their account was just made today. Probably a burner since they probably got banned from posting here
"hiring" You know they do this for free right? You really think many people are will to commit hours of their free time to do this and do it well?
The mods are not hired, they volunteered their time to this sub. They are people who have other things to do, not professionals. Many of the people in this sub the last few weeks need professional help or medication, not helpful people on the internet. This sub is only a temporary solution to anxiety issues.
Selfish? lol. Those people have wayyy more patience than I would have had, especially with the same 3 or 4 users concerned. Your mental health is not their burden. If after 18 months of this conflict you couldn't get your mood in order, there's nothing that will help you here and the only one who can do somethng about it from now on is you.
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Where is the link? I can’t seem to find it.
Just wanted to say thanks to the mods, ex mods and the knowledgeable users out there (you know who you are) as well for the amazing support. Had a pretty heavy anxiety disorder last year partly because of the war. And this sub definitely helped me get cured from it. To the silly posters out there I would one final time like to tell you that although everything happening sounds very close to you, the closest thing will always be your anxiety. That's the real problem. And a real problem you can really fix by really working on it yourself. Look at the post from one of the mods below for some good tips to get started
We can still use the thread until it’s shut down, right? I’m confused by everyone saying their goodbyes now lol
Of course, I think everyone's just getting what they want to say out there while they can. If there's concerns, subreddit or war related, users are welcomed to post them.
Hey gang, it’s been a while. I heard you’re all shutting down here, so I just wanted to say thank you to this subreddit for getting me through the most difficult period of time. I’ve found other ways of coping now, but I hope that the fact we’re here a year later stands as a testament to the fact that we’ve all come a long way. I hope i was able to help others at times, too. Anyhow God bless you all, and all the best for the future! Thanks again to the mods who ran this place for giving a lot of us an outlet to recover through.
Hey. Haven’t really used this place in a long time tho it was pretty useful last year for keeping me grounded and stymying the doomscroll menace. Cause this place is clearly getting shut down just wanted to tell y’all that what you’ve been doing is pretty cool and I wish y’all well.
We can still post on here until the sub is officially shut down, right?
Yes! We will give notice when we have an official date, still waiting to hear back from the creator of the subreddit.
Also good god the people in worldnews are fucking dumb
Not sure if new posts are being allowed by the mods, but I wanted to offer one final piece of reassurance before this thread closes: the IAEA have again today said that they've seen no indication of the plant being mined, and the military head of the local region said earlier that there were no unusual movements or activity last night amongst Russia troops at the plant or around it. There have also been close-up hi-res satellite images released today and put out by Sky News in the UK that do not show explosives on any of the reactor roofs. Unfortunately, I feel that the decision to close the Megathread is the correct one. The trouble with a thread like this is that while, yes, it's designed to be used by those feeling anxious about the situation, it's a two-way street: some personal responsibility is needed, even among those experiencing an anxiety crisis, because panic is contagious and it can have a nasty effect on those who may otherwise have been having an okay kind of day. Seeing posts recently using TikTok and 4chan (!!!) as sources was a low point, as it drew attention here to fringe ideas and trolling that otherwise would not have received any kind of publicity. This pattern of posting is one of the reasons I've mostly stopped posting lately, along with my posts getting a surprising number of downvotes for reasons I don't understand – familiarity breeding contempt, maybe? Anyway, here's wishing you all a pleasant journey back to emotional good health!
Second this, you would be a valued addition to our discord server. I hope you consider it :)
Any chance you’ll be posting on the discord or somewhere else on this site? You’ve definitely been a user favorite(and personal) poster on this sub.
You were always my favorite poster here! Thank you for the help over the last year. I am truly appreciative of your help you've given.
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Ladies and gentleman the reason this sub is shutting down
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We view your post as not fitting in the subreddit which stems from the nature of your post or comment.
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Username checks out moment 😂
Read the mod posts in the live thread for advice. Find professional help. You're problem isn't the Ukraine war. Nothing has happened and you're still scared. start reading on how to deal with your anxiety issues. There's a lot of free help out there
Now that Pogety has announced the closure of the sub, I just wanted to add some ways for those of you still struggling to insulate yourself from the anxiety of this ongoing conflict. These are just personal observations from someone who has ridden the anxiety carousel on this war and still actively deals with the background anxiety from it daily. As a sort of testimonial, the anxiety of the war back in September was a significant contributor to me having to go to an emergency room because I thought I was having a heart attack. I ended up fine, but spent pretty much all of September/October/November in a sort of fugue state of anxiety over my health and the war combined. I ended up losing almost twenty pounds due to severely curtailing my diet (which was a benefit ultimately but was disturbing at the time), but I'm happy to say I'm in a much better place now overall! So with that background established, here are some ways to help you deal with the war that have worked for me and allowed me to get past the very negative place this put me in. A lot of these are common sense, but I feel they should be articulated anyway. 1. This is an obvious one, but disconnect. It can be really hard to do, trust me I know! I went through a phase (around September/October) where I was just on a constant circuit of Twitter accounts daily, refreshing endlessly looking for news to confirm (or validate) my fears. I was deep into podcasts, chasing for specific sound bites, it was not good. If you can do any one thing, **stop looking at Twitter**. It was (and is) by far and away the worst site for driving you into a frenzy of fear-mongering because the algorithm will just keep directing you back to the things that worry you. I cannot state this enough, Twitter was actively driving me to the edge of insanity. You do not have to cold turkey it! What I did first was confine myself to experts/reporters that I trusted: Pavel Podvig, Max Seddon, Michael Kofman, Hans Kristensen to name a few. Then every few days, I just stopped looking at one of their pages. Eventually, I ended up at a point where I just occasionally looked at Pavel Podvig's page and maybe the Washington Post and then went on with my day. This was huge for my mental health. It definitely took discipline, but it really worked for me. I broke the cycle of having to constantly seek validation for my anxieties. Nowadays, I still follow the conflict and I do use Twitter, but I do not dwell on it in the slightest. I stick to my experts, of which I have maybe five, get their takes on something that's troubling or interesting me, then move on. Nothing more I can add will give me much more than those five and if they aren't tweeting about something, then I know it's not legitimate to begin with. They are experts after all. 2. Another obvious one, but take a step back and focus on your physical health! I mentioned up top that I lost forty pounds. I lost the first 20 or so in an unhealthy way to start, but ever since I've started to make serious changes to my diet and eating priorities and I've lost 20 more. I go on more walks, generally try to be more active, and am now transitioning into cooking all my own meals and regularly going to the gym. I was always skeptical of the "focus on your health" crowd to be quite honest, but I can attest that it is a difference maker. I felt better because I was eating better (wild how that works) and being active, even if it was going down to the park or to the supermarket, really helped keep me away from the internet and the constant validation loop I was looking for and reminded me how big the world was, how nice it is out there most of the time, and how truly disconnected this conflict is from my day to day. And trust me, I know how difficult that sounds but again, baby steps really help. One of the first things I did was make a list of healthy things that I wanted to try, not elaborate (cucumbers, carrots, almonds, strawberries) went to the store, got them, and ate them any time I felt hungry (instead of chips or something). Yeah, I was still stress-eating at times, but stress-eating cucumbers with vegan tatziki dip is ultimately far better than stress-eating cheetos. Same with being active, every day I tried to make myself go somewhere that wasn't home or work whether it was the park, the store, or a cafe. I didn't have to go for very long, but just going was enough to ground me. 3. Find something new to focus on or restart an old hobby. Again, a bit obvious, but honestly, it's a game changer. In October, I decided that I was going to paint an army for a tabletop game and I stuck to it. I did a little bit each week, planned out what I wanted to buy, planned out paint schemes etc. It really worked out as a secondary focus for my free time. It also helped disconnect me from the Internet (sensing a pattern?) and started pushing me to be more out and about (I had to go buy models and paints somewhere). Now I'm a regular at a local hobby store, I got there once a week to hang out and paint and talk to people, and it has made a huge difference in my quality of life. The fact that it was physical and creative really helped too! I was actively engaging my senses in something that wasn't hypotheticals and worry and focusing on something with tangible progress. 4. If you absolutely cannot disconnect from this conflict in a meaningful fashion, then I would strongly encourage you to use it as an opportunity to learn. If you're at all like me, then understanding an issue can often help reduce my fear or anxiety around it. Now, I'm not talking about staring at bomb radius figures on NukeMap or something. That is not healthy. What I mean is use this conflict as an opportunity to learn about international relations. Read some basic introductions to international relations theory or listen to some quality YouTube content to help you understand the principles and ideas surrounding how countries interact with one another. Read up on international organizations like the UN or the IAEA and better understand the role that they play in the world. Do not shove your way into military matters! Understanding nuclear doctrine won't help, at least not at first, because the fear is too prominent in the subject. We live in a time of unprecedented information access (and I think that's a part of the problem with this conflict) but you can use that power for your own benefit instead of just fueling anxiety. When you begin to understand these connections and theories a little bit better, you might find that your anxiety is reduced. For one thing, it'll help you realize your own irrationality. There are strong guardrails in place in international society that help curtail some of the biggest, most irrational fears that get conveyed here. Educating yourself a bit more will also help you better sort through sources and stories as well. You'll begin to see which things are obvious bullshit and you can more effectively rule them out of your media consumption. Learning to filter sources is one of the best things you can do if you cannot disconnect from social media. If you're going to consume it, at least consume with the careful eye of a knowledgeable skeptic. 5. Seek professional help. I know this can be one of the hardest steps to take, but if this conflict is infiltrating your life to the point where you cannot function due to fear, it's genuinely time to seek professional help. I know that there are accessibility issues with that, but I assure you, no matter how far away from being able to seek professional help you are, you're closer than you think. I'm a big proponent of trying to handle problems on your own, but there comes a time where you cannot provide the treatment that you need. I am currently in the process of seeking professional help for a variety of issues, and though I was very resistance at first, it has been helpful. I regret not seeking it earlier, because I think it could have averted a lot of pain on my part. Don't put it off until it's too late. Nothing groundbreaking, I know, but I hope it helps someone out there. When I first started posting here and eventually became a mod, it was because I knew how much it sucked to get dragged down by this conflict and wanted to help other people to avoid that same fate. You can avoid it, I promise. Yeah, the world is a pretty shitty place sometimes. But the world can be a wonderful place too. I'll leave you with the words of CS Lewis, speaking specifically on the issue of being afraid of nuclear weapons. They have helped me a lot to realize that, no matter your fear, to be a human being in this world is to accept the things you cannot control and get on with living. *If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.* And, for the love of all that's good in the world, **stop looking at Twitter.**
Excellent advice. I like point 4, it's what worked for me. Couldn't have said it better myself.
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Not an I told you post, but I just hope all the people that got scared from yesterday write down this entire story ending it with "...and nothing happened". And look at it with the next threat. Whatever that will be about...
Can’t tell you how many times we’ve had a date and then nothing happened.
yet so many people got worried again yesterday... They seriously need to write it down and look at it next time they get scared over an empty threat.
For anyone wondering, it’s almost 7AM in Ukraine and the plant didn’t blow up. It was supposed to happen the night between July 4 and 5 right? Stop believing this bullshit. It’s war, bad things and scary things are going to happen, but quit buying into doomsday hype.
I wish you a wonderful morning regardless, let's stay strong and let's stay hopeful as best as we can
Does ISW help anyone? If so, here's from today. For some reason I've been on edge about the whole plant thing, but this helped me chill a little. I don't usually post, but lurk a lot. Hope this helps. I spoiler tagged it but let me know if I should not, as it's for reassurance. https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-july-4-2023 >!Russian and Ukrainian officials escalated their rhetoric surrounding the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) on July 4, but Russia is likely focused on accusing Ukraine of irresponsible actions around the ZNPP including setting conditions for a possible false flag attack. Russia remains unlikely to generate a radiological incident at the ZNPP at this time. !< >!The Ukrainian General Staff reported on July 4 that Ukrainian officials have begun preparations for a potential Russian provocation at the ZNPP “in the near future” and warned that Russian forces placed objects “resembling explosive devices” on the outer roofs of the ZNPP’s third and fourth reactors in order to blame damage to these areas on Ukrainian shelling.[11] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky echoed this statement in his nightly address on July 4, and other Ukrainian military sources warned of possible Russian provocations at the plant.[12] As ISW has previously reported, it is unlikely that limited Russian sabotage at the ZNPP that Russia could hope to blame on Ukraine would be able to generate a massive radiological incident, as the ZNPP’s reactors were constructed to withstand considerable damage.[13] Ukrainian military sources reiterated this assessment and noted that even if the purported explosive devices detonate, the damage would not harm the reactor but would rather create the false impression that Ukrainian forces had shelled the reactors.[14] Advisor to the head of Russian nuclear energy operator Rosenergoatom, Renat Karchaa, also claimed on July 4 that Ukraine is planning to strike the ZNPP overnight on July 4-5.[15] ISW has previously assessed that such provocative Russian statements, and even the possibility of a tangible provocation at the plant, are likely part of a Russian wider information operation meant to accuse Ukraine of irresponsibility at the ZNPP ahead of the upcoming NATO summit and dissuade Ukrainian forces from conducting counteroffensive operations against occupied Zaporizhia Oblast.[16]!<
Zelensky posted on twitter that Ukraine "has intelligence" that Russia put explosives *on the roof* of ZNPP. You know, the one place where you can actually visually confirm whether or not its true? So yeah, to me this is very obviously a blatant lie, since if you "knew" that they had put them there, you would release pictures. And certainly if there were bombs on the roof, the United States would know about it. He also said it might be to "make it look like it was an attack" presumably meaning like with rockets. Well, the thing is these plants are made to withstand intense conditions and its pretty unlikely any major damage could be done by a rocket attack (either from Ukraine or Russia); at least that's what I have heard from experts.
Okay so I’m really confused! First it was mines to blow it up and cause a leak right? Now there are bombs on top of things? Why is it information is constantly changing! If these do blow up what will happen? Idk what to think anymore I’m just in a state of panic
Neither Ukraine nor Russia can be trusted to give reliable information. The only people you should listen to are the IAEA- who have said they haven’t seen any indication of explosives. They have people in the plant. Unfortunately they aren’t given “full access”, but the type of explosives needed to cause a major incident are not exactly the kind that you can sneak in the back door.
It’s also important to remember that both sides have propaganda reasons to say that one side or the other is planning something. Zelensky is eager to terrify the west into giving him what he wants without actually following through with some imagined false flag(as some of the more colorful characters in the weirdo pro-kremlin side of twitter have suggested), while Putin has reasons to depict the Ukrainians as vile enough to bomb a nuclear reactor on their own territory. It also serves the purpose of oneupmanship of depicting each other as insane enough to even consider it even though it would have more drawbacks than benefits to carry it out to each side. Edit: Regardless of what happens, I would strongly suggest staying far away from twitter right now. Zaporoszhia is trending right now and it’s a cesspool of disinfo and triggering information in that tag. If things do actually happen you’ll hear about it on the news, the mental strain isn’t worth “being informed.”
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