Yeah, the perceived volatility could be worse than the actual.  In fact, that's even more likely than not.  I read too much doomer stuff, after all.

SimpleStacker

Politics_And_Law

American Satisfaction

Undisciplined

That's a good point. 

I lean towards people being overly anxious about their situation, because social media and the corporate press are intentionally designed to scare the shit out of everyone.

That's basically the same as your volatility point, since I'm sure we both see it as people responding to *perceived* volatility/risk, regardless of whether those perceptions are accurate or not.