Regarding PI and panic attacks
To the editor:
Last week I heard about the article in the NY Times regarding Presque Isle as the “epicenter of anxiety.”
Well needless to say, I took a little (defensive) offense! Then I received a note from my good friend Sara Coddington Dyer (now Sara Barry, former reporter at WAGM) who came up for a visit just a couple of weeks ago. She thought I’d “get a kick out of the article” and added “I knew I seemed calmer after I left Presque Isle!”
Boy, I thought, the NY Times is scraping the barrel for something to write about! Did it ever occur to the brilliant writers there that Mainers may use the internet more than other areas where people would just go running to their psychiatrist?! How in the world do you equate an anxiety rate based on Google searches? I’m getting mad and anxious just thinking about it! Talk to me about comparative numbers of mental health visits, then you’ll have something! This speaks to me of how people have changed what it means to do research and draw conclusions.
I think the rest of the article is better, talking to Brent Scobie who puts it in perspective. But to lead with a headline like this can be really harmful – imagine the picture painted of Presque Isle for the rest of the state (that never visits here!) as well as the nation that reads the Times.
The journalist in me says “poor reporting” and the County girl says “whoa, slow down sailor!” Glad I got that off my chest … I was feeling all nerved up and sweaty. I better Google those symptoms.
Sue Bernard
Presque Isle
