Cynthia Wong

So this is why fear-based messages take hold when parents feel powerlessness and they start distrusting systems, bigger institutions.

They'll reject expert advice as a way to try to reclaim control, right?

And because of that, they might say, hey, I don't want my kid to get vaccinated.

It's too risky because of this distrust they feel.

In this example, if you're tracking someone, there's reasons why you might want to track your child for logistical purposes.

But when it becomes dangerous is when that anxiety is driven by, well...

Oh, gosh, I have to track their every move because they might be abducted or something or a lot of things that are low probability and that fear drives decisions.

That's when it becomes, I think, challenging and difficult and potentially bad.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think one important thing is, of course, you have to do a lot more research these days.

You have to make sure the media you're consuming is from a legitimate source.

And part of it is taking that time to realize that fear is an automatic response and taking a step back and saying, wait, what's driving my reaction?

And being able to understand that fear is driving your reaction is

So it's kind of a combination of self-reflection in terms of understanding your own emotions.

But additionally, after self-reflecting and kind of dampening those emotions is taking a step beyond and making sure what you are looking at is legitimate.