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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: phobias

phobias stories: 5 news summaries
happy halloween

 The Most Common Phobias 

Don't like spiders and snakes? Join the club!

Oct 31, 09 3:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - In honor of Halloween, LiveScience reveals the most common phobias. If you still need a costume, you'll scare the most people by playing on their evolutionarily sensible fear of creatures with venomous fangs. The top terrors:
  1. Snakes
  2. Spiders and other "creepy crawlies"
  3. Places that are difficult to
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
weather • snake • lightning • dentists • dentistry • elevator • spiders • phobias • fear of spiders • thunderstorms • flying • claustrophobia • dogs

(Newser) - A British girl who died in 2005 from dehydration and starvation suffered from a severe fear of dentists that kept her from eating, the BBC reports. Sophie Waller was in and out of the hospital after she refused to eat when teeth came lose, but medical professionals mislaid her case.... More »

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starvation • inquest • dentists • Britain • hospitalization • kidney failure • phobias • dehydration

 It's Friday the 13th:
 What Do Celebs
 Fear? 

Some fears normal; others just weird

Feb 13, 09 12:14 PM CST
(Newser) - Friday the 13th is a good time to delve into the scary world of celebrity fears—and they run the gamut from the average (Johnny Depp is afraid of clowns) to the bizarre (Roseanne fears letting anyone touch her toes). More from the list, compiled by New York Post columnist... More »

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Roseanne Barr • Johnny Depp • list • celebrity • George Clooney • fear • Cameron Diaz • germaphobia • Liv Tyler • Christina Ricci • phobias • fear of spiders • Jim Carrey • Sarah Michelle Gellar • Winona Ryder • Meg Ryan • claustrophobia

Tiny Shocks
Win by a Nose

Sense of smell shows electric response; technique could help PTSD patients

Mar 28, 08 4:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Electric shocks can sharpen the sense of smell, a finding that suggests new ways of altering sensory perception, the Chicago Tribune reports. MRIs showed subjects’ brains actually changing after researchers administered tiny shocks, which improved their ability to distinguish between similar smells. Because many psychological conditions relate to the senses,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
mental health • brain • MRI • therapy • sense of smell • PTSD • electrical shocks • health research • phobias

Humans Wired to Fear Snakes

Scientists find innate ability to discern slithering critters in the wild

Mar 5, 08 4:42 PM CST
(Newser) - Evolution seems to have given humans a hard-wired ability to recognize snakes and spiders, LiveScience reports. Intrigued by the widespread fear of serpents despite the fact that most humans rarely interact with them, researchers showed groups of adults and 3-year-olds natural scenes containing various hidden animals. Both groups were consistently... More »

MORE ABOUT:
snakes • genes • human evolution • fear • spiders • phobias • natural selection • psychological research • fear of spiders

5 Stories


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