SARAH VINE: Stockpiling tinned tuna won't save us from Armageddon. But I have ONE theory to stop us all from becoming consumed by terror

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At the risk of seeming contrary, I can’t get too wound up about the threat of World War III. I know it’s awful and that we’re all meant to be stockpiling mineral water and energy bars, lining the garden shed with lead, practising survival techniques and sourcing iodine tablets.

But seriously, what’s the point? If Putin launches a nuclear attack on Britain, what can I do? We’ll all be toast.

And even if I survive, it will just be an agonising, lingering death which no amount of tinned tuna can alleviate.

It’s not that I’m being defeatist or burying my head in the sand. It’s simply that if I have learnt one thing in life, it’s that there is no point getting too wound up about things you can’t control. It merely leads to anxiety and over-consumption of vodka.

Worrying over events we can’t do anything about – mostly happening in parts of the world where we have no agency – is pointless and self-defeating.

So why do we have this seemingly insatiable desire to catastrophise almost to the point of hysteria? Even the most cursory glimpse at the internet is enough to give the impression that those missiles are all but on their way.

I’m sure my grandparents’ generation didn’t get into such a state in the run-up to World War II, even though they had good reason. Then again, they never had social media. The range of their gossip and conspiracy theories never went much beyond the pub or the next village.

Now, the entire world is at our fingertips, a whole universe of potential paranoia to explore, a global arena in which to fry our tiny little minds. Press 1 for Hell, 2 for Fresh Hell.

Recent warnings from Putin have sparked concerns over the potential for 'World War III'

Sarah Vine writes that her generation was lucky – the last, pre-digital, age where the world still had an off button

This is not so much the Information Age as the Too Much Information Age. All day, every day, from all corners of the internet, our brains are bombarded with data.

This produces a curious  effect. On the one hand, we’re supposed to feel empowered with all this knowledge. On the other, we feel powerless in the face of its enormity.

Instead of broadening our horizons, it has the opposite effect: our worlds shrink to the size of a smartphone. We are overwhelmed by a feeling of nagging anxiety.

In this digital age, we seem increasingly to exist somewhere between outrage and fear. Every possible worry, tragedy, injustice, worst-case-scenario in every part of the world funnels foremost into our minds. Rather than freeing us, it traps us.

Just look at the way everyone stares slack-jawed into their phones, scrolling into the abyss. Hours once spent doing useful, joyful, life-enhancing things are now wasted – our minds filling with other people’s misery.

Above all, it’s rewiring our brains. A recent study found a direct correlation between depression and so-called doom-scrolling. Scientists found that viewing distressing content online snares our brain in a negative feedback loop that reinforces a destructive, downward spiral.

We become infected with fear, our cortisol levels elevated by the constant perceived threat, even though we may be safe and sound in our beds. In other words, the internet is altering our brain chemistry – and not in a good way.

My generation was lucky – the last, pre-digital, age where the world still had an off button.

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Today’s young have never known what that feels like. No wonder they’re all so angry, upset and confused. Their brains never get a moment’s let-up.

Also, I think this is the reason why they find it hard to formulate independent opinions rather than adopt a kind of hysterical groupthink with a closed circuit of ideas and beliefs devoid of all individuality. They know everything and yet understand nothing.

The truth is, we’re all controlled by what we see, read and hear on the internet. The world has become a Tower of Babel – a deafening, unintelligible cacophony of voices. We are all prisoners in a digital dictatorship. Control is not exercised by jackboots and bayonets – it’s easily achieved through social media and algorithms.

Of course, this suits the powers that be. A fearful population is compliant and the threat of World War III is just another deathly distraction from the daily problems that politicians prefer us not to focus on, since that might mean they would have to get off their backsides and do something.

It also offers endless excuses to restrict us all even more. Covid was the ultimate example: when we succumbed to panic, relinquished our rights and freedoms and, in some cases, our basic humanity.

But to what advantage? None, as far as I can tell. We’re still paying the price for that folly.

World War III may or may not happen. The sky may or may not fall. However, what we mustn’t do is to be consumed by worry and live in a permanent state of panic.

Much better to turn off, tune out – and enjoy this precious life to the full while we still have it.

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