Fear Of Fruits Is A Rather Unhealthy Condition
“Mom, what can I eat?” the girl asked expectantly. “Something healthy and tasty. You’ll see soon,” the mother said, bringing the colorful plate to the table. A few seconds passed, and the girl began to scream in terror. Because you see, the plate contained fruit. The girl was deathly afraid of fruit, which goes far beyond the preference of many children to avoid everything considered healthy or that is not super harmful to their bodies. For this girl, fruit was associated with negative feelings of fear and stress since she suffered from an unusual but possible fear of fruits. She could almost imagine that a strawberry would take the knife lying next to the plate and stab her, and she nearly felt nauseous when she thought about the taste and texture of the apple. So she avoided eating fruit, and any attempt by her parents to persuade her to eat it – because fruit (to the extent that) is tasty and healthy – was doomed to failure.
This girl is not alone. Although most people enjoy fresh, sweet fruits (each with their preferences), some people find them scary: In fact, we believe that even Donald Trump is afraid of fruit. For such people, encountering fruit can be an experience that arouses anxiety, fear, and a long list of physiological symptoms. Like most types of worries, these concerns can lead to complete avoidance of fruit, with all the negative health consequences that this entails. But what exactly does the fear of fruit stem from, and how can we overcome it?
What Is The Fear Of Fruit Called?
The fear of fruit is also known as Fructophobia. We must distinguish it from Proctophobia, a term that describes the fear of the anus or rectum, thanks to god.
We can attribute Fructophobia to the group of fears of food, Cibophobia, which in itself belongs to the group of specific phobias – feelings of anxiety or repulsion that a person experiences due to contact with a particular object, exposure to it, or even just the thought of it. In other words, it is an extreme and disproportionate fear of a specific object or situation.
Most fears of food may seem strange on paper and do not receive the necessary recognition by the DSM-5. In reality, for people who suffer from it, it is a fear or even a phobia in the whole sense of the word, with a long list of possible symptoms and a negative impact on life, as we will see below.
What’s So Scary About Fruits?
Fear of fruit can take different forms. Sometimes, the person is afraid of the taste or texture of the fruit. In other cases, it is precisely their appearance that scares the hell out of him: among people who suffer from fear, for example, the seeds of a tomato may look like scary eyes (you may have seen pictures of this type on social networks), and the banana looks like someone who might come back to life and attack him on the head.
The fear can manifest itself towards all fruits or only towards certain types. In extreme cases, the person will avoid the fruits themselves and anything that might remind them of them, such as sugary juices and even fruit-shaped sweets (say, gum in the shape of a banana, watermelon, strawberry, cherry, etc.).
The bottom line is that, unlike a usual aversion or personal preference, fruit phobia is a robust emotional response that can disrupt daily life.
Each Fruit Has Its Fears
Given that the fear of fruits takes many forms, it is difficult to define in advance what the specific fear is that characterizes a particular fruit, let alone a person. However, some types of fruits may be considered particularly frightening for those who suffer from the difficulty.
If the object of fear is the smell that the fruits give off, then the “usual suspects” in this context may be, for example, citrus fruits. Tangerines and oranges, with their pungent odor, bother almost anyone exposed to them in a public place (proposed law: we must forbid peeling tangerines on buses!). Still, the problem can be doubly complex for people with fruit phobias. Grapefruits, with their inner texture and the juice that comes out when eaten, can be another source of anxiety. Lemons can be scary due to their sourness and smell.
Sometimes, the fear is related to the specific texture of the fruit. In this context, we can point to avocados, mangoes, papayas, etc. Suppose the person’s specific fear stems from the appearance of the fruit. In that case, he may be terrified of fruits such as the pomegranate with its “bloody” appearance full of seeds, the lychee with its rough skin that somewhat resembles an “eye,” and so on.
Note that a person suffering from a fear of fruits can have different degrees of anxiety about different types of fruits. There are fruits that a person may have an anxiety attack whenever they come across, while others are more subtle. They may be able to successfully deal with people eating them near them or even eat them themselves without a problem.
What Causes The Fear Of Fruits?
A fear or phobia of fruits may be caused at any stage of life for various reasons. Sometimes, the anxiety stems from an unpleasant childhood experience with a clear connection to fruit, such as a case of choking or near-choking that a person was exposed to as a child, a person who witnessed a severe allergic reaction, and so on.
Sometimes ,the fear is related to the seemingly negative eating experience of eating fruit, such as a child whose parents threatened him with yelling or other threatening ways to eat fruit, which caused him to have an aversion that later developed into a real fear.
By the way, the negative experience does not necessarily have to be related to eating. If an adult remembers, for example, a significant fight between their parents while eating a salad, believe it or not, their aversion may be to the fruits that make up the salad. The human brain works in wonderful, sometimes strange ways.
Biologically, factors such as a genetic predisposition to anxieties and phobias, sensory hypersensitivity (which explains, for example, why children on the autistic spectrum are relatively likely to suffer from various anxieties), hormonal changes, and so on, may have an impact. In most cases, it combines several factors, making dealing with the problem more complex.
You might be surprised, but horror movies can also be part of the problem, even if their “job” is relatively small. We don’t know many movies where the killer was a specific fruit, and that’s a good thing, but there are still some shining examples. In 1978, “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” was released, a stupid movie by all accounts about a group of scientists trying to save the world from the threat of giant, mutated tomatoes. “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” got two sequels and became a cult film over the years, but some claim that it contributed to the development of their fear of tomatoes in particular and fruits in general.
A Fear Of Fruit And Other Eating Disorders
It is important to remember that there is a fundamental difference between a fear or phobia of fruit and other eating disorders or even a deliberate avoidance of eating fruit. While selective eating or specific dietary preferences are common, especially among children, fearing fruit is a more profound reaction, with consequences that can go far beyond what we put in one’s mouth at the end of a meal. Unlike people who dislike certain fruits or avoid them for nutritional reasons – and every parent knows that sometimes it takes a serious struggle to get their child to eat healthy foods like fruit – people with a fear of fruits may experience real anxiety whenever they encounter fruit, and sometimes just the thought of it.
The lines between a fear of fruit and other eating disorders can seem blurred. For example, selective eating – or avoidant and restrictive eating disorder (ARFID) – can involve avoiding certain foods, such as fruit. In a typical scenario with the disorder, a child or adult becomes picky or fearful of certain types of food for a variety of reasons, such as their characteristics (taste or texture, for example), health problems they experience related to eating, a negative experience related to food, and so on. In many cases, however, this definition is relatively broad and may include a variety of foods, while a fear of fruit may be much more specific and focused.
Another example is food allergies, which can also be caused by fruit. The main difference is that, unlike a fruit allergy, which carries health risks, a fear of fruit does not involve a real “rational” danger.
Fructophobia Symptoms And Influences
Fear of fruit, and even fruit phobia, can cause symptoms similar to other specific worries. Physically, the list of main symptoms can include:
- Rapid heartbeat
- Increased sweating
- Rattling
- Shortness of breath
- Nausea and vomiting
- Abdominal pain
- Dry mouth
What is no less important is that the fear may cause a complete avoidance of fruit, whether in general or specific types. In more severe cases, the person may suffer from anxiety symptoms when they see others eating fruit or are exposed to it in other ways, including, as mentioned, foods in the form of fruit.
People who suffer from anxiety may avoid entering places that contain fruit, such as the supermarket’s fruit section, and even avoid social events where they make a healthy choice to treat guests to fruit, for example. The meaning is that there is potential harm to a person’s social relationships.
It is too short to precisely detail the problems with avoiding fruit, especially since each fruit or group has its health benefits. At a very general level, avoiding fruit may cause issues such as:
- Deficiency in essential vitamins and minerals
- Damage to the immune system
- Increased risk of chronic diseases
- Digestive problems due to too little dietary fiber
- Skin Damage
- Hair Damage
How Can We Diagnose Fear Of Fruit?
Diagnosing a fear of fruit is not a simple matter. First, people may suffer embarrassment from fears we see as “abnormal,” some of which we have written about on the site: for example, fear of long words or balloons. In addition, avoiding fruit can also be attributed to other health or even psychological conditions. As a result, the person may suffer from the problem for years.
It is clear that on a website dedicated to fear, we do not pretend to provide you with professional information on the subject but only general information. The bottom line is that diagnosing a fear of fruits may involve a combination of different tools. A large part of the process is psychological, intending to see what might have caused the fear to develop – Because, sometimes, the answer lies in the distant (even very distant) past. The diagnosis includes an in-depth clinical interview, a psychiatric evaluation, a medical history, ruling out other medical problems, and, in some cases, the doctors make some imaging tests. Brain imaging tests, for example, may indicate the processes that occur when exposure to fruit, similar to other anxieties.
If we stick to the American diagnostic manual, the DSM-5, a diagnosis of a specific phobia requires the fulfillment of several criteria:
1. Significant and prolonged fear of a particular object or situation, including anticipation of them
2. Exposure to that factor may cause symptoms identified as fear, anxiety, or panic
3. The fear is irrational, that is, disproportionate (don’t forget that we are dealing with fruits here, which are not generally considered harmful)
4. Functional impairment
5. Persistence of the disorder for more than six months
One Problem, Different Treatment Methods
After the diagnosis, the treatment process can begin, which usually combines several approaches:
- Psychological therapy
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
- Exposure therapies, usually in a gradual manner. The person can start by being exposed to images of fruits, moving through their physical presence to direct contact or even tasting them
- Guided imagery
- Medication, such as anti-anxiety medications or sedatives to relieve symptoms
- Relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing and meditation
In conclusion, fear of fruits is a challenging condition that can harm your quality of life and health. Still, with the help of a correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment, you can overcome it or at least significantly improve your coping with it. It is important to remember that each person responds differently to treatment, so finding the most appropriate approach for each case is essential.
Seeking professional help, if necessary, is a vital step on the way to dealing with the phobia. The earlier you start treatment, the greater the chances of successfully dealing with the fear and improving your quality of life – until you can eat fruit and be healthy, as the famous saying goes.
