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As they reach for duct tape, Americans say they’re more anxious than ever. Scientific research about how our brains and bodies process fear can teach us how to live with long-term stress

By Geoffrey Cowley NEWSWEEK

Feb. 24 issue — Anthony Lepre started feeling awful almost as soon as Tom Ridge put nation on high alert for a terrorist attack last week. The normally well-adjusted Los Angeles chiropractor started tossing and turning instead of drifting off to sleep at night. He awoke in middle of night short of breath, his heart pounding. And sound of his telephone seemed a sure sign of bad news.

BY MIDWEEK, HE was rushing off to Costco to stock up on fruit juice, bottled water, peanut butter, canned tuna “and extra food for my cats Monster, Monkey and Spike.” He also picked up a first-aid kit, six rolls of duct tape and a bulk package of plastic wrap to seal his windows. “The biggest problem was that I felt helpless,” he says, “completely powerless over situation.” The health-conscious 46-year-old even found himself chomping pizza and sweets, figuring a few treats would help him “forget about situation for a while.”

If magic is hocus-pocus, science is simply well understood hocus-pocus. Fire? Solar eclipse? Volcanic eruption? Earthquake? Once we can explain it, it becomes science. But sometimes we're stuck straddling that science/magic line.

Consider magnets.

Remember when you were a kid back in elementary school and you first discovered wonder of magnets? What a thrill it was to explore possibilities! There's nothing like messing with natural forces to spark a child's imagination.

Thirty five years later, I'm still fascinated by magnets. Magnetic therapy has been used for thousands of years in Asia and Europe. Some believe that magnets help restore flow of blood through capillaries, therefore assisting in flushing of toxins that may accumulate due to injury or illness. Magnets have been used to relieve pain of arthritis, carpal tunnel, migraines, joint injuries, menstrual cramps, and much more. There has been some research in last couple of years indicating that magnetic therapy may offer relief to those suffering from depression and attention deficit disorder.

Yet we're not sure how--or if--this really happens. It's got to be some kind of placebo effect, right? We're all looking for simple solutions to help us feel better. Sometimes we want things to work so much that they actually DO. Does that mean it's all a bunch of hooey?

I've learned a lot about magnets since my husband started developing and distributing Bodylinx, a line of inexpensive magnetic bracelets. Tom stated right from beginning that he wanted to downplay jewelry's possible health benefits. He likes bracelets because they’re fun—you can play around with magnetic links and rearrange them. Though he remains reluctant to promote a healing property he doesn’t really understand, some of his customers are strong advocates magnetic therapy.

We believe whatever we tell ourselves. If we want to think that a bracelet helps our arthritis, we are free to believe that. And if it turns out to be true, did it work because we believed it or because there is some kind of science/magic at work?

As important as it is to question our beliefs regularly, it's also crucial that we become willing to suspend disbelief. Fifty years ago, nobody would have believed that we'd have spacecraft landing on Mars and sending us digital images of craters there. As a species, we have broken barrier after barrier by daring to believe impossible one small idea at a time.

We need to accept that there may be therapies that work even if we can't prove they do or understand how it happens. This doesn't mean we have to be gullible or stop questioning. We simply need to entertain possibility.

Whenever possible, I like a hefty dose of science to back up my beliefs. There is a magnetic field present on our planet. Fortunately, we don't often shoot out into space and have to deal with physical effects of that. What about those who do?