False Alarm: The Truth about the Epidemic of Fear

More relevant than ever as the Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic sweeps the globe, False Alarm (Originally released in 2008) reminds readers to look closely at the facts as the media covers the national pandemic news and spread of the virus, as well as reinforces the notion that we must arm ourselves against fear tactics that inhibit our abilities to properly make decisions in a world of uncertainty.

Life today for citizens of the developed world is safer, easier, and healthier than for any other people in history thanks to modern medicine, science, technology, and intelligence. So why is an epidemic of fear sweeping America? The answer, according to nationally renowned health commentator Dr. Marc Siegel, is that we live in an artificially created culture of fear. In False Alarm, Siegel identifies three major catalysts of the culture of fear--government, the media, and big pharma. With fascinating, blow-by-blow analyses of the most sensational false alarms of the past few years, he shows how these fearmongers manipulate our most primitive instincts--often without our even realizing it. False Alarm shows us how to look behind the hype and hysteria, inoculate ourselves against fear tactics, and develop the emotional and intellectual skills needed to take back our lives.

MARC SIEGEL, M.D., is a practicing internist and associate professor at the New York University School of Medicine. He is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, a member of USA Today’s board of contributors, and a frequent contributor to the Washington Post, Slate, and the New York Post. Siegel has appeared regularly on NBC’s Today show, FOX News Channel, CNN, and NPR.