Brits are dangerously unprepared for an apocalyptic catastrophe, but boffins say one unexpected item might be the secret weapon to surviving the end of the world.
Imagine your phone going off in the middle of the night with an emergency warning to pack up and flee. What’s the first thing you grab? Food, a torch, or some cash? According to mind-blowing research, almost none of us are ready for doomsday.
A shocking study revealed that just 0.4 per cent of UK adults are actually “fully prepared” for a major crisis. On average, most Brits don’t even have half the basic survival gear recommended by the Government’s ‘Prepare’ initiative.
Instead, when faced with the apocalypse, terrified Brits are ditching practical kit in favour of their old teddy bears.
The startling revelation comes from researchers at the University of Oxford and Liverpool John Moores University, who surveyed 1,000 UK adults as part of the After the End research project.
While ministers urge us to pack batteries, a first-aid kit and bottles of water, the boffins found a huge chunk of the population prioritises sentimentality.
When asked what they’d scramble to save, Brits named childhood toys, family photo albums, heirlooms and even the ashes of dead pets.
One desperate survey respondent said: “My childhood teddy bear. He is going to the grave with me. Apart from that, nothing matters much.”
Another participant admitted they’d refuse to leave without their late mother’s engagement ring, while others swore by saving a beer coaster from a memorable first date.
It sounds completely bonkers, but experts insist packing your favourite stuffed animal isn’t just emotional madness and could actually keep you alive when society collapses into chaos.
Writing for The Conversation, researchers Patricia Kingori, Anna Powell and Ruth Ogden revealed that hyper-emotional items act as a “psychological anchor” when the world goes to hell in a handbasket.
They explain that human identity is incredibly fragile and surrounding ourselves with meaningful pre-disaster objects stops our brains from snapping when everything around us is reduced to rubble.
Following the 2011 Japan tsunami, survivors famously admitted that losing priceless family photographs hit them harder emotionally than losing their physical homes.
The boffins said: “A childhood teddy bear becomes a possession imbued with memories and emotions which tell a tale of who we are, where we have come from, and who we care about.
“If everything around us falls apart, a treasured item can help us maintain some sense of normality.”
It turns out that maintaining a strong sense of self-worth and identity makes you more capable of handling extreme danger and adapting to horrific situations after society is destroyed.
So, if the sirens start blaring and the world ends tomorrow, don’t feel foolish for hugging your battered childhood bear.