Everybody Panic!

I've been subscribing to Time Magazine for - and this is starting to make me feel really old - 34 years! Yes, I started reading it as a toddler. You'd think they'd offer me a free subscription at this point, but I still pay for it a couple of years at a time.

I've been reading it that long because I like it - obviously. I find the commentary balanced and the news informative. I like the mix of world, national and scientific news, and the reviews of books, movies, art and products. The photography is always good and with a few exceptions, I like the columnists.

But this blog isn't about how wonderful Time Magazine is. It's about an incredibly interesting article that appeared in the December 4, 2006 issue - Why we worry about things we shouldn't ... and ignore the things we should by Jeffrey Kluger.

The psychology behind our everyday fears is fascinating and occupies much of the article. However, I find it very enlightening to look at the overall statistical illogic of what scares us most compared to what should. For example, we all know that heart disease and cancer are the two leading causes of death in America today. Together they account for all most half of the annual death toll in the country (49.7%). But look at all the headlines about bird flu, mad cow disease and the West Nile virus. Not a single person has died in the U.S. from the first two, and there have been only 264 of WNV. Thank you, Media...let's panic! Malnutrition takes almost 12 times as many lives annually as West Nile - and that toll is surpassed by both anemia and asthma!

For whatever reason, many of us view disease as something out of our control. We're either going to get sick - or not - and many people don't think the exercise, diet and stop-smoking recommendations of medical professionals will have much effect. Or if they will, it is so far in the future that there will be time to make amends for today's indiscretions.

When it comes to accidental causes of death, we tend to be far more irrational in our fears and the activities we avoid. The single most dangerous and deadly activity in which you can engage each day is to simply go somewhere in an automobile. Almost 45,000 people lose their lives each year in some sort of motor-vehicle accident. Compared to the overall number of deaths in the country each year that is a relatively low number - about 0.02% - but it is far and away the most like form of accident from which you might die.

But what do we find most frightening? A shark attack? Killer bees? Snakebite? An airplane crash? How about getting struck by lightning?

Here are the likelihoods of these things killing you:

• Shark or other marine-animal attack - 1 in 109,000 or 0.0009%
• Snakebite - 1 in 54,639 or 0.002%
• Airplane crash - 1 in 4,967 or 0.02%
• Struck by lightning - 1 in 2,325 or 0.04%
• Bee or wasp sting - 1 in 1,656 or 0.06%

It is far more likely that you will die from taking a bath, falling out of bed or choking on a piece of food that ALL of these fearful activities combined! Most of us aren't ready to stop bathing, sleeping or eating - yet we will run screaming if we even suspect a bee or snake might be in the vicinity.

The Time article points out the phenomenon of real vs. perceived risk in our behaviors. Quite simply we avoid those things that we think are risky and tend to look the other way when the facts interfere with our daily activities. The fact of the matter is that at one point or another all of us are going to die. And we really don't know how much control we have over when and how it's going to happen. Perhaps we have none at all. At the very least we should do everything we can to avoid worrying ourselves to death over how we're going to die. The strange irony in that situation should be obvious.