We typically fear things that are dangerous. Heights is a good example, but so is the fear of deep water. We also have some… less than logical fears as well, such as the fear of clowns or dolls. The main point of fear is to deter us from things that could cause us harm.
Despite this, there are many things in our lives that we do in our daily lives that are incredibly dangerous, yet most of us feel no fear toward them. You’ll find a list of a few of these activities below as well as some ways to avoid harm.
Due to the prevalence of each of these actions, it won’t be possible to avoid accidents entirely, so make sure you brush up on personal injury lawsuits and the factors delaying the settlement process.
Walking Down the Stairs
Of all of the activities on this list, walking down the stairs is probably the one we associate with danger the most.
Standing at the top and looking down is a quick reminder of just how bad a fall from that height would be. This doesn’t stop us from causally or recklessly going down the stairs, though, proven by the fact that a study that was conducted over the course of 23 years found that there were an average of 1,076,558 people treated for stair-related injuries every year.
Unfortunately, we usually just avoid the stairs whenever we can. But sometimes they are the only path to reaching locations in your home or in a building. For example, there may be stairs in your home necessary to reach your bedroom.
The best way to avoid injuring yourself on the stairs is to be cautious. Don’t go up the stairs too quickly, make sure each foot finds the next step, don’t carry too many things as you go up or down, always have a hand on the railing and so on. You may still miss the last step sometimes, we all do, but at least it was the last step and not the first.
Driving a Car
In 2022 alone, there were 5,930,496 car crashes reported to the police. This means that far too many people take driving for granted and don’t see it for how dangerous it really can be. Let’s avoid this by remembering what driving actually is.
You may sit comfortably in the driver’s seat, hands on the wheel as you take that 5-minute trip to the grocery store, but from the outside, you’re controlling a metal missile traveling at insane speeds on an asphalt surface so you can pick up some milk from the grocery store before repeating the process to get home.
You can’t get this understanding across to other drivers on the road unfortunately. Even if you do everything right you could still end up in an accident because of the people around you. That doesn’t mean you should throw caution to the wind.
Avoid distractions such as loud music or your phone and remain aware of your surroundings. This alone will protect you from countless car accidents.
Cooking Meals
Surfaces hot enough to melt plastic and deform metal, a box that can reach well over 400℉ which is almost double water’s boiling point, popping grease, slippery floors and more all exist in your home.
We typically call the room containing these things the kitchen, and these things happen while we cook our meals. If we’re lucky, the only injuries we may possibly receive while cooking are minor burns that heal quickly, but the worst cases all involve starting a house fire. Unfortunately, a staggering average of 158,400 house fires were caused by cooking just between the years of 2017 and 2021 alone.
There’s no doubt that faulty equipment caused some of these fires. Heating elements on ovens tend to have a fiery end and busted burners can overheat and cause issues quickly. Most of these fires were likely preventable, though.
Replace equipment that you feel is soon to break, don’t leave kitchen appliances unattended and be aware of your surroundings while cooking. Keep the areas around hot objects clean and make sure the floor is clear and you’ll be less likely to experience heat-related kitchen injuries.
Staying in One Position for Too Long
Unlike the activities mentioned so far, staying in one position for too long won’t immediately result in injuries.
No, the consequences of, say, sitting for too long are much more insidious. Sitting for more than 8 hours a day with no physical activity can result in obesity, increased blood pressure and blood sugar, high cholesterol levels and more.
Luckily the counters are simple. Either minimize how much time you spend sitting by standing and moving around a bit, engage in moderate exercise for at least an hour a day or employ a bit of both to negate the effect of sitting still for too long.
Neglecting Mental Health
All of the dangerous daily activities listed above are physical; sitting requires your body to be in a chair, cooking requires you to spend time in the kitchen, etc. Mental health, however, is intangible.
We can’t measure how stressed we are in pounds or gallons and there isn’t a way to visualize it. Unfortunately, the effects of ignored stress are very physical and can sometimes be debilitating.
How each person deals with stress will vary because the causes of stress and how each person needs to handle it are always going to be different even if the source is the same. For example, if two people are stressed by their jobs but one is worried about money while the other feels like they’re drowning in duties then they’ll each need unique solutions to their stress.
This could mean you speak to a therapist, but it could also mean you start doing research to understand why you’re stressed and the steps you can take to reduce it. Oftentimes this just means doing the things you love and giving yourself the time to decompress.
Remember that danger is a part of our everyday lives, but that doesn’t mean to be constantly afraid. For many of these dangers, simply being aware is all it takes to avert disaster.
