This article was written some months ago, before the recent terrorist attacks in the USA, and the multinational response to them. Many people are more fearful of personal disasters or accidents than they were before the attacks. This short article may help to put these anxieties in the proper perspective.

Elsewhere on this site we encourage people to look at the risks of certain lifestyles to their health and welfare. We may even have left the impression that it's possible to live an almost risk-free life, provided one does all the right things and avoids the wrong things. Nothing could be further from the truth.

There is no such thing as a "Risk-Free Zone" - or at least, if there were, it would be a quite intolerable place. Risky behavior can better be viewed as one end of a range of possible behaviors. Apart from health risks, there are other categories of activities that carry risks to your welfare, according to how they are pursued. Three of them are illustrated below - outdoor activities, transport, and occupation:¹

Lowest Risk						Highest risk
Stay at home	Hiking	Bicycling	Swimming	Fishing	Rock climbing	Motorcycle racing
Stay at home	Walk there	Fly as passenger	Bicycle	Bus, taxi	Personal automobile	Fly your own plane
Desk worker	Farm worker	Airline pilot	Fire fighter	Railway worker	Coal miner	US 'pro' footballer

Adapting the lowest health risks (e.g. not smoking, exercising regularly, eating and drinking wisely) - carries enormous benefits, without seriously interfering with your "quality of life", for want of a better phrase. However, the above table suggests that, if you are to achieve the lowest total risk potential, you should do deskwork at home, and not venture out at all. But the home itself is a dangerous place - more people are injured in the home (electrocution, falls, poisonings, etc) than anywhere else. Venture outside, and, apart from traffic accidents, there are lightening, tornados and bee stings to worry about.

The world is a dangerous place, and we have to pick our risks according to our individual inclinations. There is every reason to take the necessary steps to improve our chances of good health; these are relatively easy to adhere to, theoretically. In practice, we may need constant reminders, like those given on this site, of the grim end results if we ignore health risks.

When it comes to other areas, it is much harder, indeed virtually impossible, to inhabit the "risk-free zone." A low-risk existence that implies withdrawal from the outside world will result in mental or emotional effects that themselves are risk factors for other disorders.

It is known that a low level of social interaction (e.g. staying at home) is associated with an increased likelihood of depression and/or Alzheimer's disease in elders. We have all observed, and some of us have experienced, not only the momentary enjoyment, but also the lingering beneficial effects of new physical or mental experiences - a stimulating educational course, a visit to an exhibition, an adventure vacation, or an extreme sport like parachute jumping. Each of us needs to find our personal balance between avoiding risks and taking risks that are most suitable for us as individuals. Think how flat and boring a healthy old age would be without a little risky fun from time to time.

You can find more about taking positive risks at some of the links given below.