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Xanthophobia (from Greek xanthos, "yellow") is fear of the color yellow. In China the color yellow was feared, specifically receiving the yellow scarf, which was an imperial order to die by suicide.
The common cause of this phobia is traumatic experiences involving the color yellow, like getting stung by a bee or even getting hit by a yellow car or school bus. In consequence, yellow reminds xanthophobes about pain and in the unconscious level reminds them about the loss of life. When xanthophobes encounter something yellow (like daffodils, gold, and Yellow Pages), they may immediately close their eyes or panic in anxiety, depending on the severity. For severe sufferers, even seeing or hearing the word yellow can cause fright. Sufferers would not eat cheese, mustard, lemonade (unless it was pink or berry flavored), bananas, egg yolk, and anything that is yellow. They may also close their eyes and hold their breaths when urinating.
| Color phobias |
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| Erythrophobia (fear of red) · Cyanophobia (fear of blue) · Xanthophobia (fear of yellow) · Prasinophobia (fear of green) · Chrysophobia (fear of orange) · Porphyrophobia (fear of purple) · Rhodophobia (fear of pink) · Kastanophobia (fear of brown) · Tyrkouphobia (fear of turquoise) · Persicophobia (fear of peach) · Glaucophobia (fear of gray) · Melanophobia (fear of black) · Leukophobia (fear of white) |