Are you buying swine flu panic?

“Up to 1.5 billon people may suffer “swine flu“, which broke out in Mexico, says World Health Organization (WHO) expert. The virus will spread from town to town in 18-24 months and will affect over one third of the world population.” Says who?

“The WHO representatives say in this case 1.5 billion will appeal for medical aid and about 30 million will be hospitalized,” CNN reported.

Twitter is all atwitter with doom and gloom scenarios and PANIC is the order of the day. Little of which has any evidence to back it up.  There is only fear mongering.

Here’s my take on this.

We may have some kind of viral disease that’s spreading, but we are not at epidemic proportions, and we may never be at epidemic proportions.

I can’t see myself riding the NY subway with a face mask on, and as far as I can tell, I don’t think the bulk of New Yorkers will either.  We’ve gone through tougher stuff than this, haven’t we?  Even if the NY Times is reporting today that the ‘epidemic’ has spread beyond Queens, Manhattanites figure it will probably just end up in Brooklyn! They have no definitive proof that this is swine flu, and since most of the ‘victims’ are children, who suffer illness as a way of life (as a mother of 4 I know this), then what are we to make of it?

All this hype and scare tactics by the media are typical.  It sells newspapers, it gets people to watch TV, and it keeps people in line.  I mentioned in an earlier post a book by Daniel Gardner called The Science of Fear.  Check it out.  This is the same BS that is a constant in our manic, fear-driven world.  The numbers don’t add up.  We don’t have millions affected.  We don’t even have thousands affected yet.  We only have a few hundred globally who were unfortunate enough to be in Mexico, or have come into contact with someone who was in Mexico, who shared their sneezes and snot with someone.  It has to stop.

About 36,000 people die from flu-related symptoms each year in the United States. So far, there has been only one death reported in Texas from swine flu, while 149 have died in Mexico.   Is there something in these numbers that makes you want to take a second look?  We all get sick, we get better, and sometimes we die. That’s the fundamental issue here.

When we have solid evidence that there is something to worry about, then pay attention.  Yes,  you could argue it will be too late if we are in an epidemic, but please, what about the possibility that it will all die down, go away and we’ll all be the same as we are now.   What would that look like?  One less thing to get freaked out about?

If you’re buying the swine flu panic, what is it you are afraid of?  Death?  Illness?  Loss?  Ask yourself how tangible this is, and then make up your own mind.

Mine is already made up.  Life goes on, as normal, and until I get evidence that I need to be taking precautions I’m ignoring it.  Life is too short already without making yourself crazy over imagined threats.

For more information on how to stop driving yourself crazy, pick up my e-course The 4 Easy Steps to Overcoming Fear, Doubt and Anxiety so You Can Live Your Best Life Now.