Lachanophobia- Fear of vegetables
Many parents will have had the experience of trying to get their children to eat vegetables, with varying degrees of success. Often children will dislike the idea of eating the vegetable before even trying it. The shapes colours and smells may also put children off eating these healthy foods. For most people they out grow this initial disliking and go on to have healthy full diets. But for some, the idea of eating vegetables becomes not only unpleasant, but downright terrifying. Lachanophobia is the irrational and persistent fear of vegetables. The fact that vegetables grow outside and insects and bugs feed on them can cause people to have a distinct fear of not only the vegetable itself but also the insects and bugs associated with them. Others may fear that if they were to swallow a seed, that they might have vegetable grow literally inside of them.
These individuals will avoid eating or coming into contact with vegetables at all costs. Some may even be fearful if their food comes into any kind of contact with a vegetable and will therefore not eat the food for fear of contamination.
Exposure therapy tends to do well in cases like this, where the sufferer is introduced to vegetables slowly and gently until they are able to cope with them. The sufferer still may not like the taste of some vegetables, but they will learn not to fear the vegetable as they once did.
