Why Overcoming Phobias Can Be So Daunting

Amid new data on erasing fear, one man's quest to quash his (odd) source of dread

Let's get this out of the way right up front: I'm afraid of people eating. Some people are scared of snakes or flying or heights or other things that can actually be dangerous. I'm filled with overpowering, irrational dread by the sight or sound of another human being eating or drinking. It doesn't make any more sense to me than it does to you. But that's what a phobia is: a fear that has nothing to do with logic or common sense.

Weird as it sounds, phobias are not that unusual. According...

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