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    We often think it very funny if a film shows a women or a girl screaming and running in fright at the sight of a mouse or a cockroach. But we don't consider our own little, secret fears a laughing matter. Perhaps you shiver at the sight of a snake or an eel, cannot bear to hear the sound of jagged metal rubbing against metal, or feel uneasy in a lift. Fortunately, most of us suffer only a mild from of fright about certain things. According to psychiatrists, this is quite normal.

    It becomes a problem only when the fear develops into a mental condition that affects all aspects of person's life. Studies of thousands of people with an abnormal dread show that every time they think about - or come into contact with - the subject of their fear, they show all the physical signs of a person who is facing serious danger : a racing heart, dry mouth, cold sweat and weak knees.

    Doctors and psychiatrists welcome publicity about phobias, for this help to convince their patients that their fears are not unique. It reassures the patients to know that there are other people who are afraid of the same thing, and it makes the patients more willing to try to understand what is causing their fear. Once they realize what in their subconscious is causing their fear, they are half-way to being cured. Psychiatrist believe that these unreasonable fears are caused by deep-seated reasons, perhaps a terrifying experience during childhood.

    One typical case was Mrs. Mary Bachelor, a London housewife who suffered from agoraphobia (fears of open spaces). For twenty-three years, she remains indoors. Following publicity about other agoraphobia cases, she was persuaded to go out for the first time to watch her son perform with a pop group.

    Most of us suffer from claustrophobia (fear of being in closed areas) in a mild way, but the real sufferers go about in great fear of being trapped without escape in a lift, in a packed train or in an aircraft. Altogether, there are a hundred and thirty phobias listed in the medical dictionary, ranging from acrophobia (fear of heights) to xenophobia (morbid dislike of foreigners). Some phobias are very odd indeed. There are cases of people who turn cold with terror at the sight of a cabbage leaf, run away in fright at the sight of a bird or faint when they hear a dog bark. There was even a man who refused to eat anything that he knew had been touched by someone who had handled matches.

To cure their phobias, patients ____