Swine flu is spreading, and fears and concerns about its devastating potential is spreading even faster. Whenever I find myself living in “what if” instead of “what is,” I find it helpful to measure my fears against facts to put things in perspective.

That’s exactly what women’s health expert Dr. Erika Schwartz did on her blog today.  She writes:

“A little perspective on the swine flu can help us learn not to react to the sensationalism associated with it:

1. In 2008- 37,313 people died in car crashes in the US.
2. More than 20,000 people die of the common flu in the US yearly in spite of flu immunization
3. There are approximately 15,000 murders in the US every year.
4. On the average 90 people die of lightening every year
5.
Remember Anthrax? In 2001 we were all scared to death by it and 5
people actually died from the disease. I wonder how many died with
heart attacks and strokes caused by the fear of Anthrax?

I am
not being cavalier or trying to make light of a source of fear and
confusion. I just want you to be smart and put things into perspective.
Good attitude and good perspective are great tools for survival.”

I really love how she puts that: “Good attitude and good perspective are great tools for survival.”  Especially when there’s more unknown than known about something like swine flu, keeping the information flow from spiraling into full-blown panic is, I think it’s safe to say, half the battle.

How are you keeping the swine flu in perspective?