Nuclear anxiety

American anthropologist Margaret Mead viewed such anxiety in the 1960s as a violent survivalist impulse that should instead be channeled toward a recognition of the need for peace.

Two adolescents spoke to Congress of their fears of nuclear war in an event hosted by the United States House Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families on 20 September 1983.

[7] In addition, Walter Mondale mentioned “nuclear nightmares” experienced by American youth in a speech given during his 1984 election campaign.

[7] The existence of nuclear anxiety experienced by youth in the United States in the Cold War has been challenged by Joseph Adelson and Chester E. Finn Jr. in their 1985 article Terrorizing Children.

[7] Adelson and Finn's Terrorizing Children caused controversy and was considered unscientific, as the author's criticism of the American Psychological Association's nuclear anxiety-related programmes, called it a “fifty-ring circus” led by “luminaries of the Left”, and questioned the credibility of researchers and journals that published evidence of nuclear anxiety among children.

[5] It was rated the most frequently mentioned concern among Ontario students in 1985[10] and Finnish children and teenagers in a national survey in the same year.

[14] Those who believe that survival is unlikely or impossible in the advent of a nuclear war are likely to turn to antinuclear activism, seeking to educate others about such threats and protesting to pressure governments to disarm.

[6] Treatment of nuclear anxiety mainly revolves around finding a way to live with fear and taking action to limit its nefarious effects on mental health.

Preparing food and medical supplies to enhance chances of survival has been correlated with increased optimism, key to reducing anxiety.

[11] One study[14] compiled coping mechanisms used to treat nuclear anxiety as follows: On the other hand, denial or avoidance of emotional distress and of activism may prevent recovery.