Anschließend werden die einzelnen Obsessionen anhand von Fallbeispielen erläutert. Der Schreibstiel hat mir dabei sehr gut gefallen. Ok so let's just start with the most absurd phobia (and one I do not have) just to get into the mood: Bonus phobia: koumpounophobia-fear of buttons Steve Jobs had this couldn’t stand keyboards and dress shirts Demonomania - The feeling that you're possessed by demons. Only when I'm in my extreme PMS/PMDD phase of the month. The repetition lies in the fact that most manias and phobias overlap, and often their mechanics and origins are very similar. Likewise, treatment is more often than not the same; e.g., exposure therapy to treat fears. Sometimes, you could see Summerscale struggling to add some originality to the entries - which, I'll admit, she thankfully did very well most of the time (every entry with a funny and/or extremely disturbing historical story about weird Victorians made my mornings a little bit better). It also helped that the book is gorgeous-looking, and contains lots of quirky illustrations (that might trigger some people that actually suffer from these fears and manias. Free therapy!).

NYCTOPHOBIA-fear of the dark which is probably ironic because I work third shift this really only occurs inside houses not outside unless there is some Blair witch project going on I never turn the lights off even when I am not here, maybe more especially when I’m not here.

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Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.

Doraphobia - Aversion to fur. I'm very tactile-oriented, and fur is one of the best things out there.

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Die Aufmachung vom Buch durch die Bindung und der Goldfolierung ist wahnsinnig hübsch und die kleinen Bilder liefern noch dazu eine schöne Veranschaulichung mancher Ängste! Two other observations: (1) there's, unsurprisingly, a big Freudian presence in the book, just showing how much of a perv that man really was. Please can we lay him to rest; (2) I don't completely understand why homophobia and xenophobia are in here, although the author does make a case for their inclusion. Still not completely convinced. The Book of Phobias and Manias by Kate Summerscale is an interesting compendium identifying familiar and obscure fears and obsessions that afflict humankind. Here's a weirdly fun book, by Kate Summerscale. I read her book, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒓. 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓, also a nonfiction, about a real murder case that ruined the reputation of a famous Victorian detective. It was made into a movie, actually three of them, that I watched and liked. But I digress.