Fear of flu is taking over my life.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I disagree completely. Regardless of how common something is, if you’re revolving your life around fearing it, it’s irrational.
Automobile accidents account for a MUCH higher number of deaths each year than flu. Yet still, if you’re driving to work every day with sweaty palms and rapid heartbeat, paranoid of a crash, that’s in and of itself irrational.

I also want to add to this and what others have said in relation to your belief this is a rational fear.

Yes, it is rational to have concern for illness or accident but it is a healthy concern that does not dictate your life and have to posting in places like this.

Think of another scenario and how your reaction would apply to it:

You fear being run over. Do you take the usual precautions e.g. look both ways? Or do you avoid roads, change direction away from oncoming vehicles, keep checking to see if there are cars coming near to you, feel constantly anxious due it, etc?

Can you see the difference between normal and abnormal response there? So, forget about rational/irrational illness and consider we are saying it is your reactions that are irrational.

Now consider your fear of flu again. Who is most likely going to need to take precautions? Most likely those with health vulnerabilities. The NHS give all such people a free flu jab each year to help. But there are always those rare cases of completely healthy people dying just as there are people who suffer things like sepsis from a common ailment millions of us get each year. You can't counter this because sometimes it's just bad luck anymore than you can stop yourself being killed by a drunk driver mounting the pavement killing you (and this happens too).

And this is another point AMOC made here, it is irrational to fear the flu to such levels when many HAers wouldn't think twice about getting in a car or going out for a night in a town they could be assaulted in or one of many other much greater fears. That's because of your blinkers. It's your thinking that needs correcting and your reactions. It's the same for all of us no matter what our triggers.

Apologies if anyone has already worked through this, I've skimmed.

---------- Post added at 05:06 ---------- Previous post was at 05:01 ----------

But, statistics really help me. You have to try to ignore the news - though this year hasn't been too bad since the flu is really not bad at all this year, both in terms of the severity of the strain and the number of cases (because the shot is extremely effective this year - it covers both the primary strains that are out). The media is always talking about flu deaths, but the fact is that the count isn't only flu deaths - it's flu + pneumonia deaths that occur during flu season. Yes, there are a lot of instances when someone with the flu develops pneumonia and that is why they die. But there are also SO many cases of pneumonia (particularly in older people and young children) that have nothing to do with the flu. Yet, they are still grouped into the "flu deaths" category.

Erin, our media go wild with stories like this. It comes to something when we have an international anxiety forum where so many Americans have heard of The Daily Mail. How many US newspapers could most Brits identify?

The Aussies on here will tell you the "Aussie flu" is just "flu" to them and ask what all the fuss is about. They have said their media don't bother with it much. And there is the difference.

It's about scaremongering media click bait. And these outlets will emphasise the worst and not mention what you have just said.

We have to be careful due to the motives of the media in question. It may not be that the situation is any different to years before but this is their corporate strategy and reflective of the lack of industry control we have.

I'm sure you've seen Piers Morgan on your TV? He used to be an editor and left for the US after he was found to have completely fabricated a piece showing British soldiers torturing POW's. It was BS, a media stunt. It was picked up because they didn't even get the correct uniforms for the unit they were trying to set up. He's a good reflection of people like The Daily Mail.

[ErinKC]

I'm sure you've seen Piers Morgan on your TV? He used to be an editor and left for the US after he was found to have completely fabricated a piece showing British soldiers torturing POW's. It was BS, a media stunt. It was picked up because they didn't even get the correct uniforms for the unit they were trying to set up. He's a good reflection of people like The Daily Mail.

I can't believe I never knew this about Piers Morgan! I've never particularly liked him, but he was always seen as a fairly serious journalist over here and even replaced Larry King on CNN for several years! (Not that CNN is very reputable in my mind, but it's not the National Inquirer... yet) Crazy! I just read his wiki page and it blew my mind! I had no clue he was a tabloid guy before coming here.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I can't believe I never knew this about Piers Morgan! I've never particularly liked him, but he was always seen as a fairly serious journalist over here and even replaced Larry King on CNN for several years! (Not that CNN is very reputable in my mind, but it's not the National Inquirer... yet) Crazy! I just read his wiki page and it blew my mind! I had no clue he was a tabloid guy before coming here.

We have the joy of him back on TV presenting, chat show, etc. He gets a lot of stick on social media for being a bit of a bigot and for trying to stoke things up being opinionated. He's not seen as serious here at all these days. He got lucky having Simon Cowell to get his career launched in the US.

I suspect most here view him little better than Katie Hopkins and I'm sure you've heard about her. Professional trolls.

Our tabloids went through a period where they came under scrutiny and found themselves in court. What really came of it? Not much.

The Daily Mail are one of the worst and it's all their strategy. The NHS have had to publish articles on their site to explain why they, and a few others, have misled the public over health issues.

But I've seen more serious newspapers doing it too. Shortly after Trump came to power one of ours printed a full page mushroom cloud on the front page saying nuclear war would come. That may not be as significant on the HA board but the GADers may have struggled with it.

I don't know how they get away with it. Hang on, I'm being a thickie...it's money. It's maddening when you see the impact to people already struggling.

[ErinKC]

But I've seen more serious newspapers doing it too. Shortly after Trump came to power one of ours printed a full page mushroom cloud on the front page saying nuclear war would come. That may not be as significant on the HA board but the GADers may have struggled with it.

I don't know how they get away with it. Hang on, I'm being a thickie...it's money. It's maddening when you see the impact to people already struggling.

It's almost cruel. The alarmism here after Trump was elected was outrageous and it cause SO much anxiety even among people without anxiety. I know so many otherwise totally rational people who were convinced we were all going to die in nuclear holocaust. Like, they were SURE. Or that we'd suddenly fall into a repressive fascist regime... and these were really smart people. But, you can hardly blame them when they're inundated 24/7 with sensationalism. I remember a post on Facebook where one of my friends posted something about how insane it was that Trump had bombed Syria and was like - WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!! ... and I was like... um, Obama has been bombing Syria for years, guys.

It was similar with the Ebola virus a few years ago. I remember the non-stop coverage and that was right in the thick of my worst postpartum anxiety days. It was so hard to avoid the outrageous stories.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It's almost cruel. The alarmism here after Trump was elected was outrageous and it cause SO much anxiety even among people without anxiety. I know so many otherwise totally rational people who were convinced we were all going to die in nuclear holocaust. Like, they were SURE. Or that we'd suddenly fall into a repressive fascist regime... and these were really smart people. But, you can hardly blame them when they're inundated 24/7 with sensationalism. I remember a post on Facebook where one of my friends posted something about how insane it was that Trump had bombed Syria and was like - WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!! ... and I was like... um, Obama has been bombing Syria for years, guys.

It was similar with the Ebola virus a few years ago. I remember the non-stop coverage and that was right in the thick of my worst postpartum anxiety days. It was so hard to avoid the outrageous stories.

Yes, we were getting told Trump would cause war with NK. Whilst Trump played a part in this I take the thoughts of another member on here, hanshan, who has lived in Japan for many years (he's an Aussie) so understands about the influences of China. Only a maniac offers up their country for total destruction. Cooler heads prevail behind the scenes.

I find people seem to think the president can do anything he wants unopposed. It's strange considering he/she struggles to pass legislation. People forget the checks & balances and act as if we have emperors and kings again. You have legislation to prevent a president going rogue just as we have legislation preventing a nuclear strike if those in charge of them don't believe the act is justified. I used to joke it was as if the president slept with an alarm clock on one bedside table and the big red button on the other

The same with Russia in Syria. We had news telling us we could be going to war with them. War makes money for arms merchants but it's very expensive to those going to war unless they can seize assets in the process, something that we tend to do less of in modern wars (oil accepted ).

I just find it strange. Many of us have lived through the Cold War. Many of us have lived through active terrorism. I wonder whether the atmosphere would have been the same through these if the media were as bad then as now? Social media adds to it because you see real people panicking online.

[ErinKC]

I just find it strange. Many of us have lived through the Cold War. Many of us have lived through active terrorism. I wonder whether the atmosphere would have been the same through these if the media were as bad then as now? Social media adds to it because you see real people panicking online.

Can you imagine living through the Cuban Missile Crisis on social media?? I reread Thirteen Days last winter and couldn't help but imagine if Kennedy and Khrushchev had been tweeting to each other... #nuclearstandoff

[MyNameIsTerry]

Can you imagine living through the Cuban Missile Crisis on social media?? I reread Thirteen Days last winter and couldn't help but imagine if Kennedy and Khrushchev had been tweeting to each other... #nuclearstandoff

Yeah, it would be crazy online. That was a much bigger concern and right on your doorstep by comparison to the proxy wars we all seem to fight these days (one reason why we must be unpopular in those countries).

Exploding cigars would probably have the conspiracy theorists telling us Hamlet are evil and plotting with the CIA.

[cofo]

I find people seem to think the president can do anything he wants unopposed. It's strange considering he/she struggles to pass legislation. People forget the checks & balances and act as if we have emperors and kings again. You have legislation to prevent a president going rogue just as we have legislation preventing a nuclear strike if those in charge of them don't believe the act is justified. I used to joke it was as if the president slept with an alarm clock on one bedside table and the big red button on the other

not to get too political here, and hijack this flu thread, but actually....trump did just circumvent the checks and balances this past week and declare a national emergency for immigration. we are not in a national emergency. we may have an immigration issue, but it's not a crisis. so, our checks and balances are being challenged every day by this administration.

[jules321]

I am the same way! Almost every one of my posts on this forum are about the flu. This fear started after my child was born. Before that I’d never had a flu shot and never thought/worried about the flu at all.

I’m so sorry you’re so scared. Believe me I get it. I don’t like to travel during the winter because of my fear of the flu, and it’s really quite limiting.

Sending you a hug!

[scaredpt]

A patient in the waiting room with me seemed to have the flu he wore a mask when he came out. I was sitting about seven feet from him. What are the chances I will get the flu?