False Alarm: The Truth about the Epidemic of Fear

Every time I watch news on television I think about this book, and the lessons Dr. Siegel teaches about critical analysis. We see the parades of experts hyping the problems that they study, without disclaimers about their potential conflicts of interest. Politicians want to look strong in the face of a crisis, whether or not the resulting actions are a rational use of resources. Hysteria draws people to watch the 24-hour news channels obsessively. (People with no particular ties to the Gulf Coast have told me they watched around the clock before, during, and after Katrina and Rita, and they looked haggard.) Marc Siegel doesn't deny that bad things happen, but he puts things in perspective. This book is an extremely well-written users' manual for dealing with fear. The author is a physician, and he draws on that expertise, but the prose style is very accessible. Recommended for anyone who wants to be well informed but not overloaded by false alarms.

Dr. Marc Siegel teaches us that something has gone wildly wrong with our national psyche when we begin to believe that if something could possibly happen, then it is likely to happen. This epidemic of fear, as Siegel exposes, is often market driven--if it bleeds it leads, if it smells it sells. Two primary negative results flow from the false alarm syndrome. First, we place all our national energy, money, and resources into emotionally hyped issues that provide little bang for the buck. Second, the chicken little, the sky is falling phenomenon causes us to become cynical about real warnings. The tragedy of ten of thousands refusing to evacuate the gulf coast during Katrina is proof positive of this negative result. Reading this book should alert all of us to our need to stay alert. We must think for ourselves, and not let politicians and the self-serving media drive us into overdrive. We need to bring rationality to our emotionality. "False Alarm" offers the intellectual medicine and emotional prescription necessary to return us to national mental health. Reviewer: Dr. Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Soul Physicians," "Spiritual Friends," and the forthcoming, "Beyond the Suffering."

We live in a media-saturated culture, and that media is increasingly given to exploiting the most fantastic, the most gruesome, and the most dire in an effort to get ratings. If it bleeds, it leads. Similar impulses tend to dominate political speech - rhetoric for calling people to war on terrorism, war on drugs, war on whatever the 'glamour' issue is can tend toward the worst-case scenario being heightened as the most likely occurrence. However, the truth is that the worst case scenario rarely happens, and even when it does, it pales by a realistic comparison to the way the world is as a whole. For example, author Marc Siegel discusses the media and popular panic over the outbreak of SARS - one would think that this is the next worldwide pandemic just waiting to break, and public and governmental pressure was brought to bear to deal with this. In reality, few people died from SARS, it turned out that SARS was not that infectious, and in fact more people die of the regular flu virus annually than did of SARS. This is but one example of how we as a culture tend to get distracted by a high-profile issue. The fear of people in the West about terrorism is a similar false alarm, in Siegel's estimation. It is still true that one is far more likely to get killed or injured in traffic accidents or workplace accidents than by any terrorism related; to devote one's resources (physical and psychological) toward an event unlikely to happen to the exclusion of dealing with the likely events is a problem our society increasingly faces. Siegel's plea is that we as a society and as a global community pay attention to those things that are more likely to happen (even if they aren't glamourous and don't play well in front of the camera) and not spend all our time and resources on the things we cannot change - a bit like the serenity prayer writ large (change the things we can, accept the things we can't, and have the wisdom to know the difference). This is an important book.

There is a lot to learn from historical perspective - if only we could learn it while the history is happening. This book helps accomplish exactly that. Siegel examines personal and societal fear through a physician's eye - first studying and understanding the mechanisms which we experience as fear, and then examining and diagnosing how we've been using those mechanisms. The perspective and lessons are insightful and useful, making this a worthwhile read. It is also an easy read, peppered with case studies and stories which make it enjoyable while addressing this serious subject.

Yea, we're all afraid of terrorism, diseases, death, and violence... but who would have guessed that the real threat to our health was the fear impulse spurred on by these nebulous and rare events? This book introduces us to the real stories behind the terrors - a welcome message in the midst of alarmist media and drug company marketing ploys. Siegel masterfully introduces us to the reality of the situation, and reminds us of the real issues that Americans face today - a message sorely missed and needed in our culture. An excellent read - and a welcome relief - for anyone living in today's culture of mass media sound bites and goverment issued terror alerts.