False Alarm: The Truth about the Epidemic of Fear

The author exposes the health authorities, the media, and the politicians for the dishonest fearmongers they are. Read it and weep: the dreaded coronavirus is "a garden variety respiratory cold virus, nothing sexy, nothing sinister."

Even though this book was written in 2005 it is even more relevant to today. Not to downplay the seriousness of the present bug de jur, but the excessive fear and constant coverage is debilitating. Well worth reading. Thank you Dr Seigel for providing rational thinking.

Very informative book very well written Written by a famous TV doctor

Makes you think what's really happening. Appears t That the CDC and WHO and media are more interested in showing us that they are on top of things potlically when they the supposed to be non-policable.

Loved the book. Fear has been a great motivator. I can barely sing the words. We are no longer the home of the brave. We are now the cowards hiding in our homes. One review, that I read with a great deal of interest,,stated that the author did what he condemns. He made available a treatment which could save people. Unlike today where health officials refused to use a drug that was proven effective in many cases. The exact opposite of using ta I flu which had about the same efficacy.. I’ve learned to be wary of people with sweeping statements clouded with, not outright inaccuracies, but misleading things listed as facts. Personal attacks should be avoided

My husband and I drive long distances and to pass the time, we love audiobooks. FALSE ALARM was listened to at least three times and can't help but equate it to what is happening today with the Covid lockdowns. Our government has increasingly controlled the population through fear; pharmaceutical companies have profited greatly and those physicians writing the prescription. All these to ease the fear of the public. What we found very interesting on the third time listening was the impact of Pfitzer to benefit so greatly as the expense of millions of people who lost their jobs and possessions so others could benefit from a great falsehood. A PANDEMIC scares and controls people. The US Government (politicians) should be held personally accountable to those who have lost everything. LET US BE FREE.

I was going to give this book 3 stars, because it's a populist agenda and is written for an audience completely unfamiliar with the topic, but the Kindle formatting of this document is unforgivable -- so 2 it gets. Because of this I considered returning the book, but decided against it because it was an adequate attempt to explain fear in the contemporary world and the physiology of humans and their ancestor's or special siblings. Is it worth the time it would take to read it? Well, it is an adequate primer. However, I would, by far, recommend Dan Gardner's 'The Science of Fear' and 'Future Babble'. Also, one should read Matt Ridley's 'The Rational Optimist', Steven Pinker's 'The Better Angels of Our Nature'...as well as the works of Ray Kurtzweil.. Each of these works are far more comprehensive and compelling. Mild Recommendation.

I found this book very interesting. It really explains the culture of the media.

This will blow you away, realizing it was written in 2005! It could’ve been written this year; the same information applies...

This is how we are being brainwashed and "educated". A must read!

The author exposes the health authorities, the media, and the politicians for the dishonest fearmongers they are. Read it and weep: the dreaded coronavirus is "a garden variety respiratory cold virus, nothing sexy, nothing sinister."

Even though this book was written in 2005 it is even more relevant to today. Not to downplay the seriousness of the present bug de jur, but the excessive fear and constant coverage is debilitating. Well worth reading. Thank you Dr Seigel for providing rational thinking.

Very informative book very well written Written by a famous TV doctor

Makes you think what's really happening. Appears t That the CDC and WHO and media are more interested in showing us that they are on top of things potlically when they the supposed to be non-policable.

Loved the book. Fear has been a great motivator. I can barely sing the words. We are no longer the home of the brave. We are now the cowards hiding in our homes. One review, that I read with a great deal of interest,,stated that the author did what he condemns. He made available a treatment which could save people. Unlike today where health officials refused to use a drug that was proven effective in many cases. The exact opposite of using ta I flu which had about the same efficacy.. I’ve learned to be wary of people with sweeping statements clouded with, not outright inaccuracies, but misleading things listed as facts. Personal attacks should be avoided

My husband and I drive long distances and to pass the time, we love audiobooks. FALSE ALARM was listened to at least three times and can't help but equate it to what is happening today with the Covid lockdowns. Our government has increasingly controlled the population through fear; pharmaceutical companies have profited greatly and those physicians writing the prescription. All these to ease the fear of the public. What we found very interesting on the third time listening was the impact of Pfitzer to benefit so greatly as the expense of millions of people who lost their jobs and possessions so others could benefit from a great falsehood. A PANDEMIC scares and controls people. The US Government (politicians) should be held personally accountable to those who have lost everything. LET US BE FREE.

I was going to give this book 3 stars, because it's a populist agenda and is written for an audience completely unfamiliar with the topic, but the Kindle formatting of this document is unforgivable -- so 2 it gets. Because of this I considered returning the book, but decided against it because it was an adequate attempt to explain fear in the contemporary world and the physiology of humans and their ancestor's or special siblings. Is it worth the time it would take to read it? Well, it is an adequate primer. However, I would, by far, recommend Dan Gardner's 'The Science of Fear' and 'Future Babble'. Also, one should read Matt Ridley's 'The Rational Optimist', Steven Pinker's 'The Better Angels of Our Nature'...as well as the works of Ray Kurtzweil.. Each of these works are far more comprehensive and compelling. Mild Recommendation.

I found this book very interesting. It really explains the culture of the media.

This will blow you away, realizing it was written in 2005! It could’ve been written this year; the same information applies...

This is how we are being brainwashed and "educated". A must read!

This book is alright. Not great, not horrible. It was a quick read. He has written another book about COVID so I am excited to see his side on that pandemic.

Love it. Spot on to the american psyche.

With all the sensationalism and relentless obfuscation of the realities of life by the media I found this an exhillarating and thought provoking book. There's more..., but I'm sure you'll read and revisit this book again and again once it's prominently displayed on your bookshelf. Worth every penny....

I am a physician -board certified in Preventive Medicine- and I teach the subject of Risk Perception at the University level. Dr Marc Siegel's book FALSE ALARM is a true godsend in a climate of excessive hysteria generated by the press,the federal government and other vested interests who directly benefit financially by fearmongering on a wide variety of health issues. The sad thing about this profiteering from fear of course is that it diverts very precious and limited resources from very real and present dangers with us now as Dr. Siegel points out. We cannot afford as citizens and as a nation not to read and listen to Dr.Siegel.I have ordered his next book on Bird Flu and urge you to do so as well.- Rick Lippin MD,Southampton,Pa

the first chapter that explains the amygdala over riding the frontal lobes is priceless , but the rest of the book is pablum!

This book is written by a doctor from New York who is interested in the nature of fear and how it affects the human mind and body. He repeatedly makes the point that in most cases the fear that Americans feel about terrorist attacks or a disease pandemic are in most cases blown out of proportion and lead to unnecessary waste of resources, over-prescription of drugs and various other stress-related ailments. The book is a little repetitive as it gives several examples of how the media and government officials who are supposed to make us feel more safe often just hype up the danger. In chapter after chapter, the author makes basically the same point. The one thing that does keep it from being too repetitive is the first-hand accounts he gives of dealing with patients. This book was written in 2005 when the Iraq war was ramping up and the memories of 9/11 were still fresh in everyone's minds. It would be interesting to see a follow up to this book. I think that many of the things that are used to scare us have changed ( there is no more terrorist threat level chart) fear is still used to manipulate the American public often for political ends. This book is interesting if slightly outdated read that anyone who is interested in how the public can be manipulated through fear.

This book kind of connects with this book called "Theories Of A Mastermind" by James Moultrie. I feel like you cant read this and not read that one aswell. These books are well written and give you a whole new outlook and new foundation to your behavior. A radical change will take place within yourself. !!!

Best used as TP or a coaster.

A refreshing commentary on what fear of the improbable has cost our society. I loved the advice on taking aspirin instead of every overhyped new drug that comes along. Our health is vastly better than that of our ancestors, yet if anything we're more worried about our health than they were. Siegel missed talking about what I think is one of the most oversold fears in modern America: sexual predators attacking children. This is not to say that children don't get molested; they sometimes do. But teaching them that they are in danger whenever they go anywhere alone is pointless and harmful. My own husband is terrified of letting our eight-year-old play outside or walk to school unsupervised because "something might happen." Hundreds of kids at his school are driven there, even though they live within a mile of the school, because parents are so fearful. Unfortunately, children are selected as victims precisely because they are vulnerable. Vulnerability is part of their nature. The actual science on the subject that I've seen tends to show that the most effective measures tend NOT to involve scaring children, or indeed talking about molestation at all, but rather to build the social skills of children. I would hope that we could take a similar approach to handling other similarly overhyped fears.

This book is about fear. I'm writing this as Hurricane Rita is headed towards the Gulf Coast somewhere. Hurricanes happen. They come in all along the Gulf Coast. Katrina came in to New Orleans, well, actually it didn't hit New Orleans but the high water came. (Politicians don't like to spend money on things like maintenance of the levies.) Now comes Rita. Last night Rita was headed to Galveston. A million people left. Now Rita is projected to hit somewhere quite a ways east of Galveston. The western side of a hurricane is usually beautiful weather. The million people will decide that they shouldn't have gone through the effort (a normal 2 hour drive took 12 hours). Over the next few years the whole thing will have faded into the past. Ten years from now, another hurricane will come in that way. People won't leave. Dr. Siegel says that our fears come from three sources: The Government - if politicians can create a crisis and then fix it .... The Media - the hype about Rita today is nothing less than fantastic. The Big Drug Companies - How many ads have you seen on TV lately about illnesses that you never even heard of before? Terrorism, yes it killed about 3,000 people one day in 2001. But we kill about 4,000 every month in automobile accidents. Why are we so concerned about terrorism (making airline flights impossibly difficult - go pay cash for a one way ticket and watch what happens to you) and there are no thoughts at all about making the cars and the roads safer? It's a funny world, and Dr. Siegel tries to bring a bit of sanity to our lives. I'd write more, but I've got to go see my doctor about this drug I saw advertised last night.

Dr. Siegel provides much-needed insight into how the forces that work in our society produce unnecessary fear & anxiety. Even though this book is more than 10 years old, it could have been released just now. Read Dr. Siegel, put our thinking caps on, and let's get back to "normal".