Even though people fall ill or get into accidents and other unfavorable situations all of the time, many think that it’s not going to happen to them; that they are somehow immune to the hardships and calamities in life, which might prove to have a higher chance of happening than one thinks.

Members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community recently discussed things that people don’t realize have an extremely high chance of happening, after one of them started a discussion about it. The netizens’ answers covered all sorts of misfortunes—and a couple of more positive scenarios—so if you’re wondering what might be more likely to happen than you think, continue scrolling through to find out.

#1

Dying. Many people take things for granted and do not prioritise right. Something I’ve noticed after I got cancer. Because I made the same “mistake.”.

Image credits: Signal_Profile2865

#2

People often don’t realize that everyday accidents, like car crashes or household injuries, have an extremely high chance of happening compared to more dramatic or rare events.

Image credits: cathlene_mwa

#3

Being diagnosed with a chronic illness.

Image credits: balou918

#4

We able-bodied tend to think of disabled people as unlucky but (as has been pointed out) being able-bodied is AT BEST temporary. Everyone will at some point have to face a life of disability unless you die early. 

The ADA helps everyone and is one of America’s great achievements.

Image credits: D-Alembert

#5

Dropping your phone right after taking off the case.

Image credits: NoMistakeInThoughts

#6

Sadly, Miscarriage in the first trimester. Some studies estimate as high as 40% of pregnancies terminate by 12 weeks.

Edit: Since this has gained mild traction I figure I should highlight a through-line featured in a lot of comments: normalize talking about miscarriage.
Obviously folks who have experienced a miscarriage should not be forced to discuss it if they aren’t comfortable, but I have seen so many first-time pregnancies that miscarried where their first question was “what did I do wrong?” A significant majority of the time, there is nothing they did that triggered it; the more society is able and willing to provide that reassurance, the better off these people will be.

Image credits: dangledor5000

#7

I’m going to go against the mold here and list a good thing since everything else in this thread is negative:

Getting married. Almost 90% of people will get married in their lifetime but for some it can seem hopeless or nearly impossible.

Image credits: vx14

#8

Being killed in a car accident through no fault of your own. We are driving metal projectiles near each other at high speeds. S**t gets unpredictable, and you can’t control other people. 

Consequently, you could survive an accident that absolutely devastates your health, functioning, and finances for years. You never know when you’re going to wake up on your last truly normal day. .

Image credits: Square-Raspberry560

#9

Getting diabetes. At least here in the US people really don’t get how deep the deck is stacked against them.

Image credits: galspanic

#10

Complications during labor and delivery.

My wife wasn’t high risk with either of our kids. We had no indication that we had anything to be concerned about.

With my first child, he got stuck in the birth canal and had to be emergency vacuum extracted. He likely would have been still born had we not had an OB at the ready to act fast.

My wife hemorrhaged unexpectedly during recovery after delivering our second child. She likely would have bled out had she not been monitored during recovery by labor and delivery nurses, and emergency treated by an OB when the hemorrhage happened.

I know many women want to have their children in different arrangements than a traditional hospital birth, and I respect that. Just understand that having a doula in a birthing center is not the same as a team of labor and delivery nurses along with an OB that has an OR with blood band ready if things go sideways. The likelihood of complications is much higher than many understand. Just because you aren’t classified as high risk does not mean you are at zero risk of complications.

Image credits: titsmuhgeee

#11

If you live long enough, the likelihood of developing some sort of cancer approaches 100% If nothing else gets you first, cancer will eventually.

Image credits: frygod

#12

Getting hooked on social media. It happens so quickly and easily without ever realizing it.

Image credits: Human-Magic-Marker

#13

Being betrayed by someone close to you.

Image credits: Listening_Heads

#14

Having an important relationship come to a sudden end.

Image credits: Remarkable-Bar1394

#15

Natural disasters like earthquakes and floods have a high chance of happening.

Image credits: Strange_Mine8007

#16

That thing you needed to find last week? You’ll find it when you don’t need it anymore.

Image credits: clisr

#17

Losing your phone or having it stolen. It’s more common than you think, so it’s good to have a backup plan.

Image credits: Vegetable-Sand-1946

#18

Tomorrow being almost identical to today.

Image credits: StreetsOfFire320

#19

We could die at any moment for any reason. Human body is extremly complex and it’s easy to not know what happening with our own body.

Image credits: Faelysis

#20

Personal injury. It’s atrociously easy to get hurt in a way that will stay with you for life.

Being aware will mitigate most of that risk.

Drinking severely limits your ability to mitigate.

Image credits: wanmoar

#21

Your parents dying. I’m in my mid-thirties and I’m seeing all these posts like “omg, I’m going to lose my mom/dad one day”

Yes. This was always a thing and you are supposed to outlive your parents. Make a plan now and talk about the hard stuff and then it’s not nearly as hard when it does happen. (My mother and I have been actively talking/planning for when she passes away since I was about 10- I lost my dad at 17).

#22

I think in general people struggle with the reality that a low probability event can have a high probability of occuring if you roll the dice often enough. Or more accurately we have a hard time keeping track of how often we are practically rolling the dice and taking that into account when we access risk. .

#23

I think people have an attitude of “well COVID JUST happened, so we’re not due for another one of those for another century.” 

We’ve spent the last century building the perfect environment for pandemics.

#24

Anything bad if you don’t prepare for it.

People don’t prepare for bad scenario (flood, crime, earthquake, even war, etc) simply because they’re to afraid about it. Thinking “preparing is just jinxing” “Bad thing happen when you think about it”.

Preparation might not 100% prevent bad thing to happen. But it’d prevent bad thing from turning into terrible thing.

#25

In the US, going into poverty because of medical expenses.

#26

Dying from shoveling snow.

#27

Blowing through the ground water and overfishing.

#28

We are probably well overdue for another mass-causality natural disaster somewhere in the world.

Likewise, we’re overdue for a mass-causality man-made disaster, like that dam in China or the one north of Baghdad suddenly bursting: Millions live down-stream from these dams.

#29

A cyber attack or out of control vulnerability shutting down every single non air gapped communications network and computer on the planet, putting us in a quasi stone age for weeks or months. Very real possibility and almost certain to happen in the next decade or so.

#30

Dying at any moment. There are countless reasons why you might die in 30 seconds.

Heart attack. Aneurysm. A very unfortunate fall on something sharp or piercing.

A car could crash through your house. Or a plane. The next door neighbor’s propane tank might explode, sending shrapnel through your window and into you. Or you might be the unfortunate landing spot for a stray bullet.

If you’re at work, someone might try to rob your business and shoot you or stab you. Or a hostile coworker might go postal. Or an irate customer.

But our brains conveniently shut all this out. We’re not guaranteed the next minute, let alone tomorrow.

#31

Food shortages. Climate change is destroying croplands and will do so more in the near future.

#32

A heart attack , I had one 2 week ago , straight out of nowhere .

#33

One thing people often don’t realize has an extremely high chance of happening is experiencing some form of mental health issue during their lifetime. According to various studies, a significant portion of the population will deal with conditions like depression, anxiety, or stress-related disorders at some point. Despite this, mental health is still stigmatized, and many people don’t seek the help they need. It’s important to recognize that mental health issues are common and to encourage open conversations and support for those who are struggling.

#34

The US power grid failing. It would have extreme consequences. Just about everything we need and do in American society requires some sort of power. Even the water you drink.

#35

Another biological outbreak!!!!!

#36

Crashing and possibly killing yourself and/or others when you prefer to pay more attention to your phone than the road. Texts and social media can wait until you’ve parked your car somewhere.

#37

That we will permanently damage the environment. We aren’t going green fast enough and politicians and big businesses keep working against green energy. We are setting ourselves up to be the first species to destroy ourselves because it wasn’t profitable to do otherwise.

#38

The loss of government protections for it’s citizens.

#39

40% of people will get cancer.

#40

Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula will eventually be hit by a devastating [tsunami](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/earthquake-tsunami-seattle-fault-study/).

Oops, link goes to an article about the wrong fault. I meant to link to an article about the [Cascadia Subduction Zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_subduction_zone).

It’s a matter of when, not if.

#41

You can be in love with someone for years and one day end up not knowing them at all.

#42

I assume that the chances of walking over a dead body you have no idea is buried right under your feet is probably pretty high. Not saying it’s a murder, could just be a skeleton from days of yore in a long-forgotten burial ground/cemetery. But I always think that I’ve probably been within 6 feet of more human remains than I’ll ever realize.

#43

Becoming disabled. There’s so much ableism in the world because people think it could never happen to them.

#44

People don’t realize that there’s an extremely high chance of getting hooked on a TV show just before it gets canceled. It’s like a cosmic law of entertainment: the more you love it, the quicker it’s destined to leave you hanging.

#45

Losing your 10mm socket.

#46

Major failure in government and financial networks and services all over the world because a lot of the backbone of essential softwares and servers runs on legacy codes, almost dead programing languages, and archaic hardware.

Major climate catastrophe because of the collapse of the AMOC.

#47

The #3 cause of death in the United States is *accidents*.

#48

Diarrhea.