EchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Center|The escaped prisoner Danelo Cavalcante was caught. Why the ordeal scared us so much.

Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante had been on EchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Centerthe run in Pennsylvania for approximately two weeks before being caught. Communities were warned to stay inside. Keep their doors locked. He had a .22 caliber rifle, stolen from a residential home.

"I think he was probably looking for a place to hide, ran for that garage, saw the firearm, grabbed that, encountered the homeowner and fled with the firearm,” Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said at a news conference on Tuesday. He had been awaiting a transfer to serve a life sentence after stabbing and killing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao.

Why did this news captivate the nation? Much like the Titanic submersible tragedy earlier this year, people can't help but doom scroll their lives away. Experts caution that fear will always be around us – but it doesn't mean it has to hold us back.

"It's understandable to fear the unknown, no one walks around with their hands over their eyes for a reason," says Raquel Martin, licensed clinical psychologist. "But when that fear stops you from engaging with the world, then there is an issue."

Live updates:Escaped inmate Danelo Cavalcante captured in Pennsylvania, authorities say

'We don't know how bad it can turn out'

You likely played out sickening scenarios in your head: What would I do if the gunman arrived at my doorstep? Could I outsmart him and help turn him in to the authorities? Would I be brave enough?

But we can never be prepared for a situation like this until we're confronted with it.

"We're scared of what we don't know precisely because we don't know how bad it can turn out, so we imagine the worst, and we hyperfixate on that danger until it is resolved, in theory, so we can be prepared for it and see it coming," says Regine Galanti, a clinical psychologist. "In practice, it means we doom scroll and it doesn't get us any more prepared because there's nothing an everyday person can do about an escaped murderer."

Our brains reach for the shortcuts in order to process what's going on: black-and-white, perhaps worst-case scenarios. "There's an evolutionary benefit to this – people who think the worst are more prepared," Galanti adds. "The person who is constantly at the doctor for every mole will be more likely to detect skin cancer, and the person who keeps their eye on the escaped convict would, in theory, be more prepared."

This conflicts with the very notion of our information age. We have access to incessant information. Police updates. 24/7 news commentary. On-the-scene footage.

"For many, the negative holds our attention more than the positive," Martin says. "I think it's also a mirror of the current times because there is so much negative information out there in the first place it is hard not to get sucked in."

Generally, though, your obsession level with situations like these may reveal more about you than you'd like to know. "If you are fearful of being attacked by an escaped prisoner, it can mean that you are insecure in your personal life, that you are generally distrustful of others, and that you might have had a childhood where you felt unsafe or as if your parents where not good protectors of you," says psychologist Reneé Carr.

Previously:Escaped killer Danelo Cavalcante now armed with rifle stolen from home

Maybe it's time for a news detox

Even though we can't prepare for a gunman arriving, we think learning more will help us control the situation at hand.

"When we cannot control something, it makes us feel more vulnerable and at-risk," Carr says. "This is why people can become obsessed with watching a car crash, hearing about how someone died or even how (Cavalcante) escaped."

Seeking control is not necessarily a bad thing, "but I encourage those people to be aware of their bodies while taking this information in," Martin says. "Do you notice tension in your face, are your shoulders by your ears, are you clenching your fists or other body parts? These are good signs that it is time to scroll to something else or put the phone down in the first place."

Also, how often are negative thoughts simmering and sizzling in your head? "Try a news detox and see if your mindset and all around well being improves," Martin says. "I would also be remiss if I didn't state that social media is very much designed to keep us engaged and scrolling, so it's the beauty of the beast."

Remember: You will never be able to truly cancel out your fear. But the absence of fear doesn't equal enlightenment. "There will always be fear, but it's important to remember that fear doesn't need to halt you," Martin says. "You can operate with a healthy level of fear."

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