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Despite Halloween Thrills, Many Live With Phobias Year-Round

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A lot of people look forward to the scare factor that goes along with Halloween.

However, there are those people whose fears last beyond October. Since the age of five, Antoinette Watkins says she has feared mice.

"I stuck my foot in my shoe and it scratched me to get out," said Watkins, referring to the mouse. "I kicked the shoe off and it flew. Ever since, I have been deathly afraid of mice. I want to do something about it because it's a really big fear of mine."

Dr. T.J. Ghose, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, says he treats people with anxiety disorders or phobias. He says nationwide, 11 percent of population have been diagnosed as having a phobia.

"A lot of people are suffering from these anxieties, phobia's," said Dr. Ghose. "It's a spectrum of fears."

The four main categories of phobias, according to the Penn Medicine Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety are animal type, natural environment type, situational and blood/injection/injury type.

"You're not alone," said Dr, Ghose. "They're are support groups who can help in these type of situations"

For more information on anxiety disorders, visit www.anxietystudycenter.org.

Reported by Jericka Duncan, CBS 3

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