Become Vigilant, Not Phobic

With all the terrorist acts happening here and there, and combining this with the constant ongoing gun violence that is a part of the American fabric of everyday living, it would be easy to become totally frozen in fears to the extent that you no longer want to saunter outside  your home, like my agoraphobic patients.

I can certainly understand your reluctance to venture forth when your  personal safety seems always at risk, but I must warn you to not give in to fear!  Vigilance yes!  Phobic no!

We really do not have any great choices here! Fear is a normal and useful feeling, as long as we do not allow ourselves to be controlled by overwhelming fears!

We can become recluses, hidden in the recesses of our homes to avoid any possible  dangerous assaults or  we continue to live our lives as best we can.

My agoraphobic patients have had to fight each day to break through constant fears that keep them from living a normal life.

Agoraphobia comes from the greek word agora, meaning public or open spaces.  Agoraphobics tend to avoid all places where there are gatherings of people.

Their fears are irrational and center around avoiding panic attacks, yet ours today have some credulence with  bona-fide  possible outbreaks of public violence that are multiplying in occurrence.

I am not advocating throwing aside any inclination of fear and precaution and foolishly living as if on a dare that nothing in the your world today merits concern and prudence.

Thoughtful  and careful discernment  about your situation is called for  today, as you would hopefully evaluate any environment  that poses any hints of possible danger. 

For many centuries, warfare was a periodic reality in Europe.  Epidemics ravaged cities throughout the continent and famines killed thousands as they do in Africa.

There wasn’t much concern about public massacres as we have today.  Weapons were simple and designed to kill with a single bullet.

Bullets may not have been vectors of death to the public masses,  yet personal tragedy was always at the doorstep, waiting to engulf your child or love ones with a deadly infectious disease, now rendered benign with modern-day antibiotics.

Tragically, many children died before they reached adulthood. This was to many families an everyday occurrence that they had little control over, nor any comprehensible way to avoid.

For many years, just the very natural act of  giving birth presented  dangerous hazards of dying in childbirth from hemorrhage or childbirth fever(postpartum infections).

People lived with this fear, that at any moment a child or a member of their family could be cruelly taken away.

In some ways they must have felt as powerless we do today for acts of terrorism beyond our control.

The bottom line is that humans throughout history have had to confront death, diasters and tragedy beyond their comprehension and ability to prevent it.

Volcanos still blow up and earthquakes and hurricanes can’t be harnessed, so those who live in vulnerable areas have to accept the risks.

None of us are immune to public  nor personal violence.  We can only try to judge any situation by probable risks and make decisions to the best of our ability to maintain our safety.

Obviously, most of us would not choose to travel in countries beset with political upheaval , brutal injustices, warfare or extreme cultural  or religious restrictions limiting personal liberties.

Yet today, the very countries we deem safe are now targets for the same freedoms and liberties that they espouse, that Islamist terrorist groups consider immoral or impure and are hell bent on destroying.

Even before crowds of people became the choice target of terrorist groups, we are all to some degree sensitized to the dangers of crowds, inclosed or not.

As a child, I remember fears of being squished and trampled trying to navigate through the crazy drunk Mardi Gras crowds in New Orleans’s French Quarter.

I occasionally still unwillingly get caught up in thickets of folks in the narrow streets of Paris during Fête de la Musique.

I systematically refuse to get on a crowded subway train for the same reasons, preferring to wait instead till one arrives less crowded, though that sometimes backfires.

After being pickpocketed twice I have become definitely much more vigilant in using my bank card in public.

Ditto for possible purse snatching, one in a train station, and another stolen  from even inside my car while driving!

Recently have had to cancel two cards because of fraudulent charges possibly stemming from online purchases.

Precaution, whenever possible is a good thing, but not avoidance of liberties that we take for granted!

Terrorists are now becoming a part of our everyday reality as much as crooks and madmen have been.  There are very few places on earth that have not been touched.

I admire the resiliency of the Israelis who live within hostile borders and have been touched consistently by terrorism.  They have had to adapt to the unthinkable.

The majority of their citizens admit to having some fear, but they go about living as normally as they can. They are trained from childhood though to be extra vigilant in public surroundings.

We can’t expect the police to be everywhere, so we should all adopt being more aware of what is happening around us in public areas.

I know that I now make it a point to scan others in airports, or while riding the bus or subway.   Though it is not my nature, I try to stay more alert when walking around and not have my head in the clouds.

Ironically enough, I find myself doing what agoraphobics, if they get out in public, do normally to make themselves feel safer.

I scan for exits and make a mental note.  I try to plant myself against a wall, so as to see my surroundings.

In the past I generally would try to get up front, but now am more reluctant to do so, preferring  placing myself close to exits.

I no longer stand close to the subway rails and now prefer to walk further from the sidewalks, not always possible in Paris with her many narrow streets.

We are being called to adapt our mentality to the inherent difficult realities of our existence.  I have no intention of giving up traveling, nor avoiding venturing out.

Life is for living; even if I have to do so with some fears and  with more precaution.