A fascinating, unbiased study of what phobias are, how they occur and how we can stop them.

Two in five people struggle through life under the burden of a phobia of some kind. Yet little has been done to help these sufferers understand their affliction and hence minimise it. Recent researches in evolutionary theory, physiology, neuroscience and genetics have begun to analyse the causes and effects of human phobia and have come up with thought-provoking, but widely differing, interpretations and prescriptions.

Why are phobias easier to cope with at night or when wearing sunglasses? How do phobias differ throughout the world and history? Are phobias biological or psychological? Is the fear of spiders, snakes and darkness an evolutionary throwback? Does aversion therapy work? Is phobia hereditary?

The first book to balance all these issues, ‘Phobias: Fighting the Fear’ is a powerful, uniquely accessible work of popular science.