Column:

Quit living in swine fear

By Erica Zucco

Published Sept. 4, 2009

As a (self-diagnosed) hypochondriac, this is not a good week for me. Since the Chancellor sent out the swine flu e-mail to students Monday, I've made three "emergency" trips to Walgreens for essentials. Three kinds of hand sanitizer? Got 'em. An economy pack of surface wipes? Check. Bottled water, canned food and processed snacks? On it.

Starting yesterday, I've turned all public doorknobs with a tissue. I wash my hands so often they're probably going to chap soon and I ingest Vitamin C like it's my job. I am 100 percent convinced that tomorrow, I will be quarantined to my room with only Dawson's Creek and oatmeal to keep me company.

The thing is, there's really nothing I can do. The flu spreads fast and easily and if you a) go to class, b) go to the Student Recreation Complex or c) step on campus regularly, chances are you've at least brushed shoulders with someone who has it so we've probably all at least been exposed. It's essentially a normal flu — so why are people in such hysterics about it?

Culture of fear.

We live in a time and place where the interaction of the media, public policymakers and corporations constantly construct widespread perceptions of danger — sometimes by accident and sometimes on purpose. Right now the hot topic is H1N1.

I've reported at a TV station, a newspaper and a radio station — and in many cases in all of these outlets, we chose to include (or lead with) a hot-issue story even if it wasn't that big of a deal — if it wasn't really that newsworthy or a huge danger. And when we call for the government to do something and they do, that can verify in citizens' minds there actually is a threat. And when bottled water companies start warning you to stock up before the new millennium locks us all in our homes, people buy it because they've already been assured by the government this "protects" them and journalists that serve as watchdogs telling us there is a problem.

In Marc Siegel's "False Alarm: The Truth About the Epidemic of Fear," he asserts we fear things we shouldn't and we don't fear the things we should. We prepare for instances of mass bio-terrorism and forget to turn hair straighteners off in the bathroom — when chances are, it's much more likely the straightener will set off a cosmetic fire than an entire city would be affected by Anthrax.

And sometimes we even do this for ourselves — we're comforted by the fact that we're doing something to "prevent danger" when we take precautions for these invented fears, and it takes our mind off of the bad things that are actually much more probable. In this way, we create a culture of fear for ourselves. There are probably a few positive results from this, but for the most part, it means we live in a constant state of concern.

So what can we do to fix this? The easiest way is to think about all of the things we could be doing instead of preparing for the worst. To consider the probability of disastrous events — and, when you're tired of hearing about an overblown threat, change the channel or turn the page. There are certainly some dangers that are very real — but we need to use our own judgment and those of people we trust to discern between the actual and the exaggerated.

All of this in mind, I'm still swigging the orange juice and carrying a mini Bath and Body Works hand gel in my purse... but I'm done freaking out about touching doorknobs or going to class. We should live in a way where the only stress we have is real stress, and the things we fear are actually real. Become a part of that change.