Yo-yo diet agony of Britain's fattest teenager: Georgia was 33st at 15, 18st at 16... now she's 40 STONE at 17

Britain's fattest teenager, who once lost half her body weight at a U.S. fat camp, has now hit an astonishing 40 stone.

The distressed 17-year-old said her weight gain depresses her so much that she responds by eating even more.

Georgia Davis from Aberdare, south Wales, faces an early death unless she takes urgent action to tackle her weight. But Ms Davis says she is struggling to even face up to her problem.

Georgia Davis, from Aberdare, south Wales, when she weighed 34stone. She finds it difficult to face up to the reality of her size

The 5ft 6in teenager said: 'I try not to think about it too much, otherwise I panic and it makes my eating problem worse - but I do know it's serious.'

Miss Davis, who covers up her bedroom mirror so she can avoid seeing herself, only manages to get out of the house once a week and regularly eats junk food for lunch.

'Of course people stare, but I don't care what they think any more - I'm used to it,' she told The Sun.

Just a few years ago the outlook was far brighter for the teenager. In August 2008, a 33st Georgia was told by doctors to 'lose 20 stones or die'.

Spurred into action, Georgia attended a £3,600-a-month Wellspring diet academy in the UK for nine months, during which time she shrank to 18st and beat her Type 2 diabetes.

She was seen by behavioural coaches, food psychologists and fitness trainers and encouraged to walk 10,000 steps every day.

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She returned to the UK in June 2009 to look after her mother Lesley, 55, who has a heart condition.

At the time the energised student was optimistic about her chances of success and vowed to drop a further seven stone.

She said:‘I used to look at myself in the mirror and cry. Now I smile and say, “Yeah, I like myself”.

'I like my face and I like the way my body is shaped. The world is my oyster and I feel I can achieve anything.'

But today Georgia admitted the omens were not promising when she returned home.

'When I arrived my mum said she hadn't had time to prepare any healthy food so we had fish and chips instead,' Georgia said.

'For that moment on, I had a niggling feeling that things weren't going to work out.'

The teenager appeared on TV show Good Morning America in 2009 after losing 15st - but she has since piled it all back on

Ms Davis said she had enjoyed playing sport in America but that the same facilities weren't available in her home town and she couldn't afford to join the local gym.

'I soon found I was becoming less mobile, just like before,' she said.

The youngster has strenuously defended herself from accusations that she is lazy, although she admits her weight gain is her own fault.

She said at the camp she had been in a controlled environment where she consumed 1,500 calories a day. However, at home she felt isolated as neither her family nor her friends were sticking to a healthy eating plan.

'This is my problem and I know I have to solve it again,' she told The Sun.

'But I'm only human and I'd be lying if I said I didn't need support.'

At her slimmest, Georgia had a normal life expectancy of 80 years, but at her current weight she is not expected to live past 20.

Georgia said she wants more help from the NHS, saying her problem is no different from drug or alcohol addiction.

The troubled teenager said: 'I know I'm probably eating myself to death again but at the moment I can't face up to it.'

Georgia was so delighted with her weight loss in 2009 that she shared her story on GMTV. However, she was unable to keep a healthy regime going

I lost my hair... then grew it back with an iron-rich COCKLE diet

When mother-of-three Mary Corrigan began losing her hair, she was naturally devastated.

The 43-year-old was so embarrassed about her bald patches that she wouldn’t go out without a hat.

Yet despite visits to her GP and a trichologist, she was told there was no cure. So the housewife, a former chef with a background in nutrition, decided to find her own solution.

Healthy hair: Mrs Corrigan now has a full head of hair after she started following her own iron-rich diet

And after lengthy research, she came up with a ‘grow-your-hair-back diet’ – featuring iron-rich fare such as cockles, venison and leafy green vegetables.

Within four months of adopting it, her hair had not only grown back, but was thicker and stronger.

Her GP is so impressed with the results that she passes on Mrs Corrigan’s details to others.

Hair loss: Mrs Corrigan's condition began four yeas ago with two small patches of alopecia and left her embarrassed to go out without covering her head with a hat

‘My hair loss began four years ago with two small patches of alopecia on the back of my head,’ said Mrs Corrigan, who is married to IT consultant Mark, 45, and has three daughters aged 12, ten and seven.

‘But within a few months I was horrified to notice the patches were spreading all over my head. I was distraught. My red, thick, curly, long hair really was my crowning glory.’

Over the next two years Mrs Corrigan, from Bromley in Kent, visited her GP several times. But as routine blood tests came back normal, her condition was put down to stress.

Growing back: Mrs Corrigan's hair is shown here in 2008 as the effects of her diet started to make progress

Then Mrs Corrigan, who had also lost hair from her eyebrows and was ‘virtually bald’, began her research and discovered the importance of serum ferritin, a protein responsible for the storage of iron.

Low levels of the substance in the body – below 40mg – can apparently cause hair loss and Mrs Corrigan was found to have a ‘startling’ 19mg.

‘Many trichologists believe it should be as high as 80 for hair follicles to function optimally,’ she said.

Crowning glory: Mary's hair is back to how it was before the condition struck and she now hopes she can use her diet to help others

Unable to find an iron-rich sugar-free diet specifically to correct hair loss, she devised her own. And within a month she felt velvety patches of hair growth on her head.

The average woman needs 15mg of iron a day, she said.

Her sample menu is: fortified cereal plus orange juice for breakfast, a ham sandwich on wholewheat bread plus salad for lunch, and a dinner of cockles and seafood paella or venison burger and a salad of watercress, lettuce, peppers, tomato and pumpkin seeds.

Going up in the world: The baby born in a hospital lift

Baby Natalya Ionna Bunn is a girl destined to reach the heights - after being born in a LIFT.

The fast-rising tot floored her shocked mum when she came along in the elevator at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

Natalya emerged as mum Suzy Bunn, 29, was due to be induced because she was 11 days overdue.

Uplifting: Suzy Bunn and baby Natalya with her seven-year-old daughter Alanna and husband Jason

Baby dash: Suzy Bunn felt a contraction as she arrived at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital

The mobility specialist had dashed to hospital with husband Jason, 40, a sales executive, after her waters broke.Then came her uplifting experience.

Suzy, from Mattishall, Norfolk, said: 'We were walking across the hospital car park and I thought she was coming.

'We got in the lift to meet the midwife when I had another contraction.

'As the doors opened, a midwife and a nurse were waiting there with a wheelchair but as I moved to get in it, Natalya was born.

'The midwife managed to catch the baby just in time.'

Suzy was back home within six hours of giving birth and proudly showed off the new family member to seven-year-old daughter Alanna.

She said: ' Alanna is a very proud big sister and is telling everyone about her baby sister being born in a lift.

'When Natayla gets married it will definitely be something Jason mentions in the speech.'

Bah gum! Baby boy born with two perfect front teeth

A baby boy surprised his first-time parents when he was born with two fully-formed FRONT TEETH.

Most babies six months to a year to grow their first teeth but Oliver James had two pearly whites from the start.

His parents Joanne Jones, 31, and Lee, 32, said they have already booked their son's first dentists appointment.

First time parents Joanne and Lee Jones had an extra surprise when their son Oliver was born - he had two front teeth

The 7lb 12oz youngster has two front incisors in his lower gums and doctors say the teeth may fall out and be replaced or stay in place as the first of his baby teeth.

Mr and Mrs James, from Haverhill, Cambridgeshire have been inundated with friends and family who are keen to see their firstborn's toothy smile.

Mrs James, a carer, said that they were delighted to have a healthy baby boy and added that his teeth were proving popular with visitors.

She said: 'Oliver is a very, very good baby and it was a complete surprise to see his teeth. They are not little stumps, they are proper teeth.

'It is not unknown for babies to be born with teeth, but it is extremely rare.

'It was quite comical in the hospital because everyone wanted to come and see Oliver's teeth when they heard about them.

Mr and Mrs Jones with Oliver. Doctors says that the teeth may fall out and be replaced or they could stay in place as the first of his baby teeth

'He has to go back so that they can keep an eye on them. These may be his proper teeth, or he could get three sets.

'If they get wobbly he will have to have them out, but they seem quite solid.'

THE WHOLE TOOTH

Baby's teeth begin to develop before they are born. However, they don't usually come through until they are aged between six months and one year old.

One in 2,000 babies is born with a tooth or two like Oliver.

The first to come through are usually the incisors - which are the four front teeth at the top and bottom of the jaw used for cutting and chopping food.

Many babies who are teething can be irritable as the teeth can cause pain as they come through.

Most children have a full set of 20 milk teeth by the time they're three years old. These teeth will start to fall out around the five year mark, making way for larger adult teeth.

Oliver was born by caesarean section at the Rosie Maternity Hospital in Cambridge at 3am on December 30.

Perhaps wary of receiving a nasty nick, Joanne decided to feed Oliver by bottle.

Husband Lee, a warehouse worker, told of his surprise when medical staff presented him with his son and pointed out his unusual teeth.

He said: 'As soon as he was born you could see his two front teeth quite clearly, I was quite shocked.'

The couple had been trying to conceive for four years when Joanne fell pregnant with Oliver naturally.

But she spent six weeks of the pregnancy in hospital as she suffered with hyperemesis - or severe morning sickness.

She said: 'I had the worst pregnancy ever, I spent quite a lot of time in hospital on a drip because I was so poorly.

'When I saw Oliver's teeth I thought it must have been because he was teething while he was in there.

'He is just perfect, but we are not planning to have any more. My brother has six children, so he will have plenty of cousins to play with.'

Most Popular Plastic Surgery Procedures in the World

It used to be that only celebrities and wealthy housewives underwent cosmetic surgery… but not anymore! Today people of all ages, backgrounds, and income-levels are going under the knife to enhance their looks. Plastic surgery is a booming industry with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Below is a list of the top 10 plastic surgery procedures, compiled by PlasticSurgerySpot.com using statistics from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

1. Liposuction

This popular procedures is used to remove excess fat from the body, neck, and chin. When done right the results are impressive, when done wrong lumps can occur.

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2. Breast Implants

A larger breast size is desired by many woman. This is accomplished using either saline or silicone breast implants.

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3. Cosmetic Eye Surgery

This anti-wrinkle procedure helps to minimize the appearance of aging skin around the eyes. Both upper and lower eye lifts are a popular procedure for the baby boomer generation.

4. Tummy Tucks

Tummy tuck surgery or called “abdominoplasty”. Those who have redundant abdominal skin and muscle relaxation resulting in bulging of the abdomen, even if they don't have too much fat, need to have a major operation called the "Tummy Tuck" to cut out excess skin and tighten the muscle.

5. Breast Reduction

Breast reduction is a common surgical procedure. It is done to decrease the size of one or both breasts. While more common in women, this procedure can also be done in men.

6. Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty , also called plastic surgery of the nose or a "nose job," is a very popular procedure that can make profound differences not only in the balance of facial features, but also in a person’s self-esteem. The aesthetic improvements that a rhinoplasty surgeon can make include decreasing or increasing the size of the nose, altering the tip or bridge of the nose, and narrowing or changing the shape of the nostrils

7. Face Lifts

For this wishing to pull the skin tighter to minimize wrinkles, a face lift is performed. Often times cheek implants or another form of cheek augmentation is done in conjunction with this anti-wrinkle procedure.

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8. Breast Lift

Mastopexy or breast lift surgery refers to a group of elective surgical operations designed to lift or change the shape of a person's breasts. Mastopexy may involve repositioning the areola and nipple, as well as lifting the breast tissue and removing skin. Mastopexy may be performed alone, or in combination with placement of breast implants.

9. Forehead Lift

This is a less invasive procedure than a face lift. A forehead lift is done for those that only want to target the forehead.

10. Male Breast Reduction

This is an extremely popular procedure for males. Some develop fatty deposits in their breasts or hormonal imbalances trigger the abnormal creation of breast tissue. Either way, this procedure corrects the problem.

The £1million cost to the British taxpayer of caring for the world's fattest man

• He ate 20,000 calories a day - ten times the recommended intake for a man
• £100k-a-year care costs have racked up £1m bill for taxpayers
• 'I've always said there's a thin man inside all of this packaging'
  

The world's fattest man has told how the break up of a relationship with an older woman spurred him to binge eat his way to 70 stone. But it is the British taxpayer who should be the one feeling heartbroken.

Paul Mason, from Ipswich, was given life-saving bypass surgery last year and now weighs a comparatively slim 37 stone. But his care bill costs taxpayers an estimated £100,000 a year and is believed to have topped £1million over the last 15 years

The 50-year-old former postman, who now travels by motorised wheelchair after being bedridden for years, claims his gargantuan size was not down to greed but the heartbreak he went through in his youth.

Now scroll down to watch the video

Enlarge

Fattest man: Paul Mason pictured weighing at least 60 stone prior to a life-changing operation

Binge eater: A documentary about Britain's fattest man Paul Mason will air on Channel 4 this week

At the worst of his compulsive eating, Mr Mason was devouring a shocking 20,000 calories a day, funding his gorging through stealing money from letters at a sorting office until he was dismissed before convincing his mother to take out a second mortgage.

More...

• First picture of the world's heaviest man is mobile again after losing an incredible 20 stone through gastric bypass surgery

His breakfast alone would be enough to exhaust the appetites of most normal people, comprising an entire packet of bacon, four sausages and four eggs complete with bread and hash browns.

Lunch would involve quadruple portions of fish and chips along with two kebabs while Mr Mason would munch on roast dinners, curries, pizza and more chips for his evening meal.

Constant snacking throughout the day added to his astonishing calorie intake, with up to 40 packets of crisps, sausage rolls and pasties keeping his hunger pangs at bay in between his enormous meals.

But after gastric surgery put huge restrictions on the amount his stomach can consume, Mr Mason has spoken of the romantic pain that he believes inspired his binge eating.

HIS FRIDAY ORDER AT AN IPSWICH FISH AND CHIP SHOP

• Four large cod

• Four battered sausages

• Six large portions of chips

• Two pies

• Mushy peas and curry sauce

• All washed down with bottles of Coke

'This 24-hour eating was triggered by something that happened in my 20s,' he told The Sun. 'You could say that I ate to fill a crack in my heart.

'I met a woman when I was 21 and she made my world complete. She was different to other women I'd met. She was 39, much older than me. It still hurts to speak about what happened.

'I called her Char. I adored her and thought, "Right, that's it for the rest of my life".

'She had a house, which we spent time doing up. Then, out of the blue, once I'd helped her finish the place, she broke it off.'

'This was in 1986, when I was 26. I should have become suspicious because she instantly found another chap and became engaged to him soon after.'

Mr Mason's father died in the ensuing months and a deterioration in his mother's health saw him turn to comfort eating, a compulsion than later saw him forced to quite his job as a postman when his weight prevented him from completing his deliveries.

He was transferred to a sorting office where he worked until 1989 when he was sacked and imprisoned for six months for stealing from customers' letters.

Compulsive eater: Mr Mason was disowned by his family after persuading his mother to take out a second mortgage then spending the money on food

Life or death: Britain's fattest man being lifted at a hospital as preparation for the surgery that helped him lose 20 stone

Mobile: Paul Mason sits in his motorised chair on a rare day out near his home in Ipswich after losing 20st

Paul said he wants to have a female companion and revealed he has a friend he has become close to.

'For the first time in years there is someone who makes me think about romance,' he told the Sun.

But Mr Mason's size means he is incapable of taking care of himself alone and the demands placed on his carers has cost the taxpayer more than £1million since he became bed-bound in 2000.

Firefighters had to knock down the front wall of his former home so they could drive a fork lift truck inside to lift him out and put him into an ambulance when he needed a hernia operation in 2002.

But after an operation at a West Sussex hospital last spring restricted his appetite and helped him lose 20 stone in a year, he pledged to help others tackle their obesity.

'Food has taken my mobility away. And I've done it all to myself,' he added.

'I hate myself for what I've done but it's all in my head. Blood tests and scans showed I was relatively healthy inside. I've always said there is a thin man inside all of this packaging.

'Now I want to travel to every school in Britain with a cardboard cut-out of me at my heaviest.

'It's difficult for people to comprehend. They haven't the time to eat like I did, they're too busy.'

Charlotte Linacre, Campaign Manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance said the treatment costs will enrage patients on NHS waiting lists.

'It’s such a shame that so much time and resources have to go to help one person, these nurses will be sorely missed at a time when public finances are squeezed,' she said.

'Although there is sympathy for people struggling with health issues, taxpayers will not feel this is a fair allocation of funds as they sit on waiting lists while footing the bill for his personal care.'

TWO NURSES TAKE FOUR HOURS TO WASH BRITAIN'S FATTEST MAN

Two female carers take up to four hours to wash Britain's fattest man Paul Mason - because he is so big it is impossible for him to clean himself.

The women, who visit him three times a day, have to apply cream to every inch of his bulging body to stop chafing.

He manages to soap his upper body himself and the nurses wipe him down.

They used to look after him from 8am until 8pm but Ipswich NHS were forced to axe the service because of cutbacks.

Mr Mason, who wears incontinence pads, has not walked properly since 2000 and wears size XXXXXXXXL clothes.

Before surgery: Paul Mason languishing in a reinforced bed before undergoing a gastric bypass operation

X-ray image shows lucky escape for boy, 13, who fell on a hook that missed his brain by TWO MILLIMETRES

These are the amazing X-ray images that shows how a 13-year-old boy cheated death when a razor sharp hook missed his brain by two millimetres in a bizarre accident.

Xiaolin Niu slipped on the icy playground at his school in Xianghai, north eastern China, and fell face down on to a steel hook attacked to a broken heater that had been dumped on the tarmac.

'It hurt a lot but I tried to be brave,' said Xiaolin.

So close: The X-rays taken after Xiaolin Niu, 13, fell and a hook missed his brain by a whisker

'The hook was originally much longer so the school called out an engineer who cut off most of it with a welder, which was a bit frightening.'

Head surgeon Yan Shijun from nearby Changchun emergency hospital explained: 'The hook pierced his skull but was turned to the side by the impact.

Brave: The 13-year-old boy is helped before his X-ray, which shows how close to death he came after his playground fall

'But any movement would have sent it into his brain and he could have died on the spot.

'We managed to extract it very carefully.

'He has lost his right eye but he's very lucky to be alive at all,' he added.

First picture: World's heaviest man is mobile again after losing an incredible 20 stone through gastric bypass surgery

This is the first picture of Paul Mason after he lost an incredible 20 STONE in just a year.

Mr Mason, 49, weighed about 60st before undergoing life-saving gastric bypass surgery.

Now he has celebrated his success by making a rare trip from his home in Ipswich, Suffolk.

He told a friend:'All I want to do is be able to walk again and live like a normal human being. I've got a second shot at life and I'm not going to waste it.

Mobile: Paul Mason sits in his motorised chair on a rare day out near his home in Ipswich after losing 20st

'I don't want to go back to the old me. I'm determined to carry on losing weight until I'm a normal size. I'm much happier and healthier now.'

He smiled and chatted to well-wishers last week as he headed towards a shopping complex with one of his NHS carers, according to the News of the World.

The former postman, who is is still believed to be the world's heaviest man, had part of his stomach stapled off so that all the food he ate went into a small 'pouch', vastly restricting the amount he could eat.

He was driven 143 miles in an ambulance with reinforced beds to have the operation at the specialist St Richard's Hospital in Chichester.

Doctors put him on a crash diet to bring his weight down to a safe level so the operation could go ahead.

Paul Mason languishing in a reinforced bed before he went on a crash diet after undergoing gastric bypass surgery to staple part of his stomach

Paul with friends: He used have a daily intake of 20,000 calories - eight times what most men eat

Mr Mason admitted to eating 20,000 calories a day, eight times the amount needed by an average man.

His care bill costs taxpayers an estimated £100,000 a year and is believed to have topped £1million over the last 15 years.

Chubby baby: Paul Mason at about 18- months-old

Firefighters had to demolish the front wall of his former home so they could drive a fork lift truck inside to lift him out and put him into an ambulance when he needed a hernia operation in 2002.

At the time he weighed 56 stone and told doctors that he was desperate to lose weight.

He ended up slimming down to 45 stone before piling the weight back on with his junk food diet.

His clothes are custom-made and sometimes he goes naked to avoid having to get dressed. But now his frame has shrunk so much he can get about on a special motorised chair.

His diet of lean meat, fresh fruit and veg is strictly controlled, but he still has other health issues. In the weeks after his operation, he suffered a heart attack.

Close friend Stan Gladwell said: I'm pleased he's lost so much weight. I last saw him a fortnight ago and he's doing very well."

Top 10 Weirdest Phobias

We all know the meaning of phobia and how it makes our lives miserable. The fear of darkness, the unknown, heights, water and insects are pretty normal and we might think that these are the only phobias known to man. But like us, you are also in for a surprise. Have a look at the most weirdest phobias actually known to the medical world.

10. Spectrophobia – Fear of mirrors or one’s own reflection.

Spectrophobia or eisoptrophobia is a kind of specific phobia involving a morbid fear of mirrors and the dread of seeing one’s own reflection.

It is attributed to the fear of self-knowledge and fright from exhibitionism. It is an exaggerated or irrational fear of mirrors or one’s own reflection. It is debated that Spectrophobia is related to fear of ghosts or Phasmophobia. But, by definition it is the fear of self-actualization. It may arise as the fear of losing one’s perception of personal beauty, or the fear of accepting anomalies on one’s persona like moles or marks that are a reminder of painful events from one’s past. It could also be termed as a symptom of denial of certain events that have left marks on one’s persona.

In other cases schizophrenia is also coined as a reason for Spectrophobia. But, it is one weird though dreadful disorder as one can not avoid mirrors or reflections in today’s world. It can be easily identified and also treated like other phobias.

9. Ablutophobia – Fear of Bathing

Ablutophobia is the persistent, abnormal and unwarranted fear of bathing, washing, or cleaning. This phobia is a situational specific phobia. Ablutophobia tends to be more common in children and women than in men and especially with those people who are very emotional. Such a phobia makes you feel dejected and lonelier. It might be an impact of an event from the past linking bathing, washing or cleaning to emotional trauma. The original catalyst would be a real-life scare of some kind, the condition can also be triggered by any event seen on Television, films or even witnessing someone else experience trauma.

It is different from fear of water or hydrophobia as the person is not afraid of the water, but the cleaning. He might not care about the water if it’s not being used to clean him/her. Those suffering form Ablutophobia experience – dizziness, breathlessness, excessive sweating, heart palpitations, nausea, dry mouth, feeling sick, shaking, becoming mad or losing control.

The Self-help NLP or Neuro Linguistic programming technique has proved to be an effective treatment for this phobia.

8. Anthophobia – Fear of Flowers

Anthophobia is a persistent fear of flowers. Though sufferers generally understand that they face no threat from flowers, they invariably experience anxiety at the sight or thought. Any genus or species of flowers can instill fear, as can any flower part, such as a petal or stem. Anthophobia is also referred to as the fear of small harmless things, such as a small torn piece of paper.

Anyone could have this phobia, if you kind of freaked out when your girlfriend brought you flowers, you might have Anthophobia. And if you have never received any flowers like me, you should go buy flowers for yourself just to be sure.

Chorophobia – Fear of Dancing

Dancing is a very common part of our lives. It’s an expression of our mood, joy and energy. Asking someone to prom, annual dance or even dancing together at a wedding is a swell way to find a mate. But, what if someone is afraid of the very core of the idea? Chorophobia is an persistent fear of dancing. It might be any form of dancing, couple or even single. Mostly sufferers believe that they don’t feel like dancing, but they don’t realize that they are afraid of it. In most cases people realized this anomaly when they just had to dance like at a club or at prom. In extremities, some have found out about this when they felt anxiety and nausea at the time of their wedding dance.

The treatment for Chorophobia is the same as for other phobias, but it is hard to recognize. Sometimes it is just seen as the reluctance or a part of one’s personality not to indulge in things like dancing.

Genophobia – Fear of Sexual Relations

Genophobia is the physical or psychological fear of sexual relations or sexual intercourse. The word comes from the Greek terms genos, meaning “offspring,” and phobos, meaning “fear.”

People who suffer from the phobia can be intensely affected by attempted sexual contact or just the thought of it. The extreme fear can lead to trouble in romantic relationships. Those afflicted by Genophobia may stay away from getting involved in relationships to avoid the possibility of intimacy. This can lead to feelings of loneliness. Genophobic people may also feel lonely because they may feel embarrassed or ashamed of their personal fears. This type of phobia can be developed due to any trauma sustained during sex. People that were molested as children are mostly found to be Genophobic.

Heliophobia – Fear of Sunlight (Vampire Madness)

Heliophobia is a problem that afflicts hundreds of people, but one that suffers from a lack of true research. The Pacific Health Center suggested that many people have been staying away from the sun because of growing fears about skin cancer. Sufferers of Heliophobia would keep out of the sun and would mostly be just thought of as ‘night owls’. They are terrified at the sight of daylight and tend to keep it as dark as possible. They stay in basements or cellers and spend an abnormal amount of time on in house activities. Television, movies and especially vampire stories have come quite handy in inflicting Heliophobia.

Heliophobia was considered a “telltale sign” of vampires in many cultures. So I guess the new twilight vibe can also inflict Heliophobia.

Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia – Fear of the ‘number 666’

Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia is a Greek word. It literally means “fear of six hundred sixty-six”. It is the fear that originated from the Biblical verse Revelation 13:18 which indicates that the number 666 is the Number of the Beast, linked to Satan or the Anti-Christ.

Outside the Christian faith, the phobia has been further popularized as a motif in various horror films. Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobes will strongly avoid things related to the number 666. A prominent example is Nancy and Ronald Reagan who, in 1989, when moving to their home in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles, had the address of 666 St. Cloud Road changed to 668 St. Cloud Road. Some women also expressed concern on giving birth to a child on June 6, 2006 (abbreviated 6/6/06). The release of ‘The Omen’ on 6/6/06, along with other referrals to this number in films like ‘The number 23’ etc. are an example of Hollywood use of this number.

In 2006, the BBC listed hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia and its definition as fact #64 in its “100 things we didn’t know this time last year”.

Nomophobia – Fear of being out of mobile phone contact

Nomophobia is the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. The term, an abbreviation for “no-mobile-phone phobia”, was coined during a study by the UK Post Office who commissioned YouGov, a UK-based research organization to look at anxieties suffered by mobile phone users. The study found that nearly 53 percent of mobile phone users in Britain tend to be anxious when they “lose their mobile phone, run out of battery or credit, or have no network coverage”. The study found that about 58 percent of men and 48 percent of women suffer from the phobia, and an additional 9 percent feel stressed when their mobile phones are off.

The study compared stress levels induced by the average case of nomophobia to be on-par with those of “wedding day jitters” and trips to the dentists. More than one in two nomophobes never switch off their mobile phones.

Phobophobia – Fear of having a Phobia.

Phobophobia is the fear of phobia(s), and more specifically, of the internal sensations associated with that phobia and anxiety. Phobophobia comes in between the stress the patient might be experiencing and the phobia that the patient has developed as well as the effects on his life, or in other words, it is a bridge between anxiety/panic the patient might be experiencing and the type of phobia he/she fears, creating an intense and extreme predisposition to the feared phobia. Nevertheless, Phobophobia is not necessarily developed as part of other phobias, but can be a important factor for maintaining them. Phobophobia differentiates itself from other kind of phobias by the fact that there is no environmental stimulus per se, but rather internal dreadful sensations similar to psychological symptoms of panic attacks.

Telephone phobia – Fear of making or taking phone calls.

Telephone phobia (telephonophobia, telephobia) is reluctance or fear of making or taking phone calls, literally, “fear of telephone”.

Sufferers typically report fear that they would fail to respond appropriately in a telephone conversation, and fear finding nothing to say, which would end in embarrassing silence, stammering, or stuttering. The associated avoidance behavior includes asking others (e.g., relatives at home) to take their phone calls and exclusive use of answering machines. As a result, the sufferers avoid many activities, such as scheduling events or clarifying information.
As it is common with various fears and phobias, there is a wide spectrum of severity of the fear of phone conversations and the corresponding difficulties. In 1993 it was reported that about 2.5 million of people in Great Britain have telephone phobia.