Common symptoms include severe outrage and lack of perspective. It is also alleged that there is a risk to freedom and fun, although so far, scientific studies have failed to prove this.

But apparently no one – be they a United States presidential candidate or a lowly Australian politician – is immune. A public safety warning from authorities surely cannot be far away.

In recent days and weeks, we have seen political correctness blamed for everything from aiding terrorism to ruining the Oscars and what it means to be Australian.

As Herald Sun columnist Elise Elliott wrote on Wednesday, little kids are being denied the classic pleasures of riding bikes without helmets, sunburn and high fat takeaway diets. "Let's remember how being an Aussie kid was unbridled fun before it was bleached boring by the goodtime assassins."

Over at The Daily Telegraph, Miranda Devine lambasted the Australian of the Year award as a "politically correct joke".

With reference to the last three appointments of Adam Goodes, Rosie Batty and David Morrison (and their focus on things like racism and sexism), Devine said "the award, which ought to reflect and unite this great nation, has evolved into a mere plaything of social engineers and reflects all the unhealthy preoccupations of the left".

Over summer in federal politics, in the wake of (negative) reactions to Jamie Briggs' Hong Kong bar behaviour and Peter Dutton (accidentally) telling a journalist she was a "mad f---ing witch", we've had Barnaby Joyce worry that his workplace is becoming too politically correct.

"One of the great things about Australian politics is our informality and directness and I'd hate to lose that – even if there can be faux pas," the possible future prime minister said.

To add to the mix, we've had concerns that responses to Islam, ISIS and Muslim migration are too timid because we are worried about causing offence to minority groups.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the host of The Apprentice is being seriously considered as the next leader of the free world – winning fans (and side-stepping controversies) with his crusade against political correctness. As Trump likes to say, "we have to all get back to work and stop wasting time and energy on nonsense!"

Wars over political correctness have raged in mainstream politics since the 1990s – largely stemming from conservative quarters, who say overzealous, ridiculous lefties are controlling what people can do and say.

The situation, however, appears to have reached catastrophic levels, with no area of existence safe from accusations of PC pollution.

But is there a genuine widespread issue here? Or merely the widespread use of a disingenuous slogan?

Yes, it will always be possible to find examples where things are taken too far (like, those stories about Santas not being allowed to say "ho, ho, ho"). But these are the exceptions, not the rule.

Step back from most PC crises and they actually reflect improvements in the way we live – not some horrible regression.

Is it really a problem that kids – and their parents – have to wear bike helmets now, when trauma surgeons say they see daily evidence that the hard hats save lives and prevent serious brain injury? Suncream may be greasy and annoying to apply, but then it also prevents skin cancer, which in some cases, doesn't just mean an expensive trip to the dermatologist, but a premature trip to the morgue.

And putting aside the widespread praise that people like Goodes, Batty and Morrison have earned for their advocacy and bravery – since when was it draconian to point out that Australia has problems with racism, domestic violence and sexism?

There is no evidence to suggest they are making this up.

True, none of these topic areas are particularly pleasant to talk about, but attacking the expert messengers or swotting the issues away as an ideological indulgence doesn't mean they aren't real.

(And while we're here, why is that when an observation is made about society in general, some people always take it so personally? i.e. One in five women is sexually assaulted? How dare you call me a rapist!)

Jump up and down about "freedom", but I'd wager it's a positive thing that we now recognise that terms like "witch" are offensive. And that women have the right to go about their work without being cracked on to by their male colleagues – particularly much more senior ones.

We acknowledge that language isn't just an innocent string of letters. We know that one person's "harmless joke" can cause another person significant distress. So words like "boong" or "retard" or "nigger" are no longer accepted in common parlance – not because the PC police (whoever these invisible people are) are running rampant – but because of the absurd notion that all members of the community should be treated with respect.

The same rationale holds for our hesitancy to tar all members of a religious or ethnic group with the same "threat to society" brush.

"Political correctness" might be a tired old debate, yet the concept is still being used to paint common sense ideas about health, equality and basic decency as silly and hysterical. As an easy way of dismissing issues that are tough or inconvenient.

And it's not true to say that people don't have the "right" to say or do what they think anymore.

They just don't have the right to say and do whatever they want without consequences.