Criminologists say that fear of crime often acts as a psychological sponge absorbing other anxieties that are hard to enunciate, such as concern over rapid social change, immigration, deteriorating values, fraying communities and so forth.

ECONOMIST: Fear of crime is falling just when crime itself is not

Still nursing his wounds, Mr Rudd has seized on their anxieties to wage psychological rather than open war.

ECONOMIST: Australia

For cultural and psychological reasons, breast cancer has a special status and is a focus of enormous anxieties and confusion.

FORBES: After 40 Years Of Research, What Do We Know About Preventing Breast Cancer?