There are widespread phobias that are rather easy to describe. Spiders, fear of heights, beetles and other creepy crawlies, we all agree that nature has its share of oddities and shapes that are widely perceived as terrifying. Conversely, other fears are rarer. But that doesn't make them less important phobias, on the contrary.
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An unusual fear
The French singer and actress Louane had admitted, not long ago, to be phobic of... Bananas. This rather original fear has a (less original) name: bananophobia. But did you know that this same fear exists for tomatoes? This phobia concerns certainly, rather few people. The former Spice Girls and businesswoman Victoria Beckham is one of them.
Invited to the Late Late Show of the American host James Corden, where she was subjected to having a tomato thrown at her. She admitted:
I am afraid of tomatoes! I'm not kidding, I'm really afraid of tomatoes, it's not funny!
Carpophobia, the phobia of fruits
Tomato phobia is part of a larger condition called Carpophobia, the fear of fruit. People with carpophobia have a strong sense of disgust and repulsion towards fruits, sometimes vegetables.
This fear falls into the category of eating disorders and can, in some cases, have serious consequences on the body, because of the nutritional deficiencies it causes.
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Cold sweats, panic and repression
When confronted with certain fruits, people suffering from carpophobia will feel a deep unease, an almost panic-like fear. Sometimes unable to touch or even look at the fruit, some manage to eat it in a transformed form.
As with more 'classic' fears, people with tomato phobia may experience cold sweats, palpitations, chest pains, tremors and even anxiety attacks.
Difficult to identify, carpophobia can be linked to past traumas. The fruit in question then becomes the receptacle of the memory which will allow the repression. Rather than fighting the neurosis in question, linked to this fruit, the unconscious will then divert the fear onto a third object. A healthy psychic mechanism, protects, at the same time as it blocks the person subject to this fear.
This article is translated from Gentside FR.
Read more: David Beckham: One of his favourite restaurants revealed, and it will surprise you
Sources used:
Voici: 'Victoria Beckham confrontée à sa phobie des tomates chez James Corden : c’est drôle!'
Santé Magazine: 'Carpophobie : comment vaincre cette phobie des fruits ?'
