(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?
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