I appreciate this alternate diagnosis :) At what point would you say the "flu" becomes a more virulent strain that is dangerous enough to do something more than tolerate?
For example, more and more sexualized content in advertising (esp. harming teen girls [1]), or forced ads built-in to a browser sidebar (esp. harming the poor [2]), or ads on the surface of each school desk in 3rd grade (esp. harming the young [3]). Anxiety about the future, depression, etc. can be tied to advertising.