![What's Your Weird Phobia?](https://cdn.magzter.com/Reader's Digest India/1665123233/articles/qlvF8FGpF1665574579582/Phobia.jpg)
(Ahem, husband, I am looking at you.) So, several years ago to promote a book I had written about anxiety, I built a website called Hall of Phobias, and invited people to share their worst fears.
Did they express being terrified of cancer and tigers and car crashes? No. I heard from grown men and women admitting that they ran hysterically from pigeons, shrieked at loose bits of string, or arranged their whole lives around avoiding jars of mayonnaise. Actually, that last one is my husband Ambrose's phobia. I can wave a spoonful of mayo at him and he will dart away as if I'm threatening him with a fiery torch. It's a useful weapon in my arsenal, if I should ever need it.
Up to 15 per cent of the world's population suffers from phobias, with the most common being heights, small spaces and flying. But aside from those, wow, do they vary. "I am deathly afraid of water I cannot see through," one woman wrote. "I need to know what could be approaching, like the Loch Ness monster or a shark, even though that is just ridiculous."
Offered another: "I had always been quite proud to only have one phobia: crabs, which in the middle of England isn't much of an issue." But, she shared, "I've recently developed a phobia of opening and closing curtains." Huh?
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 2022 من Reader's Digest India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 2022 من Reader's Digest India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
![25 Lessons That Last A Lifetime](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/232/1759019/-4oz_GG4W1720522283064/crp_25-LESSONS-THAT-LAST-A-LIFETIME.jpg)
25 Lessons That Last A Lifetime
Suggestions about life are a little like lottery tickets: You may collect a lot of them, but they rarely pay off. Yet if you are truly lucky, you receive a few words of wisdom that inspire you forever. That's called hitting the jackpot
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A Symphony Of Irritation
In the 2022 film Tár, Cate Blanchett played a conductor who was affected by misophonia—an acute sensitivity to certain sounds. For Lydia Tár, Blanchett’s character, the clicking of a pen or the beat of a metronome was enough to drive her to distraction.
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Is Poverty Alleviation Truly Possible?
We ask economist and Nobel laureate Esther Duflo
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Who's Getting Colon Cancer
With rates rising among younger people, testing should start sooner
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The Alpha Dog
To rescue lost animals, she climbs into places most of us avoid
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Let's Say Yes!
What started out as a way to get my son to try new foods opened up a world of adventure for my family
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Hey Dad, Can You Help Me Return the Picasso I Stole?
A painting went missing in 1969, then turned up at a museums doorstep. No one knew how or why—until now
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Band of Survivors
Armed with his drum kit, a Holocaust survivor fights anti-Semitism one musical note at a time
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A Race Well-Limped
A reluctant runner’s key to keeping high spirits? Low expectations
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THE Beauty Queens OF AL DHAFRA
Welcome to Al Dhafra’s camel beauty pageant, where the competition is tough