Hey listeners, it's that time of year again. Time to dust off your favorite costume, visit your

local haunted house, or on the flip side, maybe you kind of hate this time of year. Maybe the

absolute least fun thing you can imagine doing is paying to have a stranger jump out of nowhere

and scare the crap out of you. If so, this classic how-to episode is for you.

Here's host, Charles Duhigg. Tell me a little bit, like, what's the scariest thing that

ever happened to you? Well, that'll be a conversation for my therapist. Because, you know, I mean, our fears are, they're deep, they're personal things, which for me

is just more evidence of why we should find opportunities to kind of play with it, to know

it, to not be afraid of it.

This is how to.

I'm Charles Duhigg.

Each week, we talk to listeners who reach out to us with a problem they want to know how to fix. And on today's episode, be afraid. Be very afraid. Just like this week's listener.

My name is Becca, and I am from Bradenton, Florida.

So Becca, you reached out to us because you have a problem.

Tell me a little bit about it. I am very scared of the stupidest things to be scared of.

So I have such a strong physical reaction. If I'm spooked

or being chased or anything like that, I immediately shut down and start crying and just can't

help it. Oh my gosh, that sounds unpleasant, particularly much so. Particularly with Halloween coming up.

Especially when your husband likes to go to haunted houses and hasn't been able to for the six years you've been together with him.

So and are you kind of like a meek person?

Like are you a scarity cat in general or is this kind of unusual?

No, no. It is, it's super unusual.

So I am not a meek person.

...