It is my impression that the American society is living in a state of abject fear.  And this constant mental state has bred a whole country of hypochondriacs.

 

Almost every form of media – due to medical advances in many cases – has become more aware.  From magazines and TV to the Internet you can find all sorts of information regarding symptoms and signs of our growing list of diseases and ways to die.

 

Now do not get me wrong, it is good to be aware and keep your health and well-being in mind while going about your life.  The areas that spark fear are coming from reliable people.  People we trust.  Like Web MD, news channels and Dr. Oz.

 

I just got back from a stay at my Mom’s house where this bizarre thing called “cable” exists.  (Me?  The only thing I get is a blue screen.)  Anyway, one of the things she liked to watch was the Dr. Oz show.  He covers some great topics including nutrition and exercise routines.  The problem is that every other show is a new way to die.  “You may be dying right now and not even know it!!”  (Note: not an actual quote.)

 

For example, I was woken up at 5 AM this morning with really bad neck pain and a migraine.  The first thing I thought was, “Oh, God.  I’m having a stroke!”  The only reason I would ever have thought this was due to an episode of Dr. Oz!  He had a couple of young women on to discuss the signs and symptoms of a stroke that we tend to overlook and the signs that are different for just women.  Now, under normal circumstances this information is good to have.  But with the prevalent state of fear we have it morphs into being hypochondria.  So instead of thinking, “Man, I must have slept wrong,” it has become “Dear God, I’m having a stroke!”

 

We experience the same thing with news sources.  All those lunatics out there that are shooting, knifing and running over people.  And you know what, it could just be your neighbor!

 

Then we do it to ourselves, too!!  Due to the sky-high costs of medical care in this country we have bred a special hypochondriac – the self-diagnoser.  Admit it, we’ve all done it at least once.  We have the flu with some unusual headache pain so we hop on the Internet and go to Web MD.  We type in our list of symptoms – and BOOM – we are dying of brain cancer.  Got to love this one.  We ignore the ones that say “flu” and “migraine” – all we can see is that damn brain cancer!  Just the fact that it is on the list, good Lord!!

 

So all in all, there seems to me to be a very fine balance between knowledge and hysteria.  Maybe as we have evolved into such a technology-based world that we can no longer separate ourselves from the knowledge that is bombarding us 24/7.

 

Anyway, food for thought.  Kissy, kissy, snog, snog