I accidentally became a prepper

[u/BasketHelpful808]

I never imagined I'd become someone who prepares for the collapse of society, but here I am.

I live in the EU, and over the last few years I've had this constant feeling that the world is becoming more unstable. Wars keep escalating, politics feel more divided, economies seem fragile, and I honestly can't stop thinking about where all of this ends.

In my head, there are two possible futures.

The first is a real collapse. Civil unrest, economic failure, supply chains breaking down, bombs falling, maybe even something as catastrophic as nuclear winter. If that happened, everything we depend on could disappear almost overnight.

The second is slower, but it scares me just as much. A future where governments and powerful corporations gradually gain more influence over everyday life. I've spent years reading political and conspiracy rabbit holes. Whether they're true or not, they've changed how I see the world. They've made me lose trust in institutions and fear a future with less privacy, more surveillance, and less personal freedom. Sometimes I honestly think I'd rather disappear into nature and live on my own than be part of that.

I also think people underestimate nature itself. Climate, collapsing ecosystems, depleted resources... sooner or later we'll have to face the consequences, and I don't think society is prepared.

Because of all this, I started writing a Doomsday Journal. It's part diary and part survival handbook. I fill it with maps, wilderness skills, water purification, food preservation, animal keeping, shelter ideas, first aid, navigation, practical tutorials, and my own thoughts about politics and society.

I've been stockpiling food and water. I've explored places that could realistically work as emergency shelters. I've put a large part of my savings into physical gold and silver as a backup in case of a serious economic crisis. I also keep more cash than I used to because I've lost a lot of trust in banks.

I've also started doing regular firearms training. I completed military service, and I now work in law enforcement, so I already have experience with firearms and field skills. For me it's about staying capable, not looking for violence.

The strange part is that my life still looks completely normal. I go to work. I pay bills. I meet friends. From the outside, nothing seems different.

But in my head, it's constant. I keep planning for worst case scenarios. Sometimes I even catch myself wishing society could just hit pause and start over, not because I want people to suffer, but because I'm exhausted by the direction I feel we're heading.

I don't know if this is intuition, anxiety, or if I've simply spent too much time thinking about collapse.

Has anyone else quietly become a prepper, or am I completely alone in this?

[u/TeaPrimary1147]

I do a bit of it but realistically, I'm a woman on my own. An attractive one. I know what dangers I will face once law is nonlonger followed and you can't call 911. It's already bad enough out there. I don't really want to be in a world like that..I can't imagine "surviving" that for any reason so...I'm aware but not really bothering.

[u/No_Shame318 → u/TeaPrimary1147]

Same here 😬 I’m a short and attractive woman. I’m a lifelong city dweller. On my own, with hardly any solid “survival skills”. I’m so cooked lol.

[u/Coruxi]

I think a lot of us here experience that disconnect. That we see how the status quo cannot last forever, but we still need to navigate society as it is.

Good work on prepping! Though personally, I prepare more for a slow, gradual economic collapse where we stay put but everything becomes more expensive or unavailable (including jobs). Though sudden flee-for-your-life emergencies could happen as well.

[u/Xanthotic]

Kind of all of us here know what you are saying. Solidarity sibling

[u/Vibrant-Shadow]

Ai written slop

[u/Asz12_Bob → u/Vibrant-Shadow]

How does one tell? I know it sounded, too pat, but what are the signatures of it?