Russia is estimated to have thousands of tactical nuclear weapons—possibly the world’s largest stockpile—which could be deployed at any time. The use of nuclear weapons is also embedded in Russian military doctrine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appealed to the rest of the world to take the threat seriously.

In this article we examine what would happen during a tactical nuclear bomb explosion, including the three stages of ignition, blast and radioactive fallout—and how one might be able to survive this.

People who suffer from trauma often experience sleep disturbances. The Hyperarousal Theory says this is because trauma activates the body’s fight-or-flight response, which triggers the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic nervous system and interferes with sleep quality.

In turn, there appears to be a connection between insomnia and alcohol-related problems. For example, there is some evidence that insomnia makes people more susceptible to the negative repercussions of alcohol. Study authors Julie Patock-Peckham and her colleagues wondered whether insomnia brought on by childhood trauma might contribute to problematic drinking in later life.