Everyone is scared of something. Clowns, heights, failure, the unknown…that is the beauty of fear. At this time of year, fear is all around us, as we prepare for Hallowe’en. Haunted Houses are based off of fear – it is all about the scare factor, and some people choose to face their fears to overcome them.

Fear can get in the way of your day-to-day life, however. Agoraphobia is the fear of open spaces; you don’t want to go out and be around people, and may have a panic attack at just the thought of leaving your room or your home. This is an intense fear that affects your very livelihood. Granted, in today’s day and age, there are many opportunities to work from home and order in food to be delivered, groceries can be delivered; Amazon’s PRIME shipping is the best thing every, so agoraphobia is something you could live with. However, if you have to leave your safe space, you may have a difficult time.

The media truly plays into your fears. This past week, Chicago Med, Fire, and PD had a huge cross-over event. The media played a big part of the show, which featured a disease being spread across the city. It was amazing to see how quickly Chicago became crippled under the fear of this disease. There were so many unknowns: what the disease was, what caused it, what it actually did, how it spread, who did it. Social media played a part, and a small restaurant owner had her shop attacked by an angry mob, blaming her for the outbreak. As I watched, I started to think about the role media plays in spreading fear in the real world. I look at the diseases that have been in the news the last few years: Ebola, Flu, and Measles come to mind. There is always a quick increase in news stories about the disease, a push to get the vaccine (which never ends), and daily updates on the number of [insert disease name]-related deaths. I have always been intrigued at how 3 cases of a disease is considered an “outbreak.” Every newscast covers some instance of a disease that is having an epidemic. This creates an atmosphere of of fear, and with FaceBook and Twitter, it allows people to loudly voice their thoughts on the matter. The number of posts I have seen when the first case of the flu is reported saying “Get your damn flu shot!” “Don’t you care about the lives of children?” “Just unfriend me if you don’t vaccinate your kids.” gets larger each year. They get more venomous as well. I would say the media are doing their job at injecting fear into everyone surrounding these diseases. Measles and the Flu are two illnesses that are quite common, and do not cause death. True, people who get the flu or measles can die, but they do not die from the illness, it is some underlying factor that causes them to pass away.

Fear is also spread around different religions or races of people. After 9/11, anyone who was of a darker skin colour, or who went to a mosque was shunned, avoided at all costs. There was a fear that another attack was imminent. Living in the Chicago-land area, we were all on edge, just waiting for the other shoe to drop and have something happen in our home. There is a fear of immigrants being spread today – they are illegal and coming here to take your benefits and jobs.

Fear is all around us – how do you handle fear?