It’s hard to imagine not experiencing joy from such simple pleasures as spotting the first daffodil of spring or diving into a tropical sea. But if you suffer from xanthophobia (the fear of yellow) or cyanophobia (the fear of blue), these experiences are likely to arouse fear rather than delight. But it’s not only yellow or blue, people can have an aversion to a rainbow of colours, be it white (leukophobia) orange (chrysophobia), or green (chlorophobia). Chromophobes, meanwhile, are those who fear any bright colour. Famous sufferers including Woody Allen and the actor Billy Bob Thornton.
Unlike more common phobias – the fear of snakes, or flying – where you can steer clear of your fear, colour is impossible to avoid. A fear of colours might not only strip away joy; it could also make it virtually impossible to experience normal, everyday life. Even a mention of a colour’s name can cause distress.
The associations attached to colour are complex, going far beyond their visual appearance. The artist David Bachelor used chromophobia to describe a suspicion of colour that is specific to the west, arguing that, since Greek times, it has been associated with the disreputable and impure. In daily life, colour is part of our language of emotions; we feel blue with sadness, green with envy or yellow-bellied with fear. It’s perhaps no surprise then that Alfred Hitchcock – well known for exploring the varied connotations of colour in his films – made one of his leading characters chromophobic. Marnie, in the eponymous film, suffers from erythrophobia: fear of the colour red.
Hitchcock reveals that Marnie’s fear stems from a horrific childhood episode and it is frequently the case that phobias result from a traumatic incident. Psychotherapist Dr Rita Santos, an expert in phobias, says that the 50% of cases able to identify a source for the development of their phobia generally find it linked to “a traumatic experience, observation of fearful behaviour, or instruction by others”. The unknown reasons behind the other 50% may be genetic, or due to conditioning or a complex combination of factors.
The good news for sufferers is that, generally, phobias can be cured and, once you’ve been able to admit your phobia, respond quickly to treatment. Therapy can take the form of several different methods but one general piece of advice is to maintain a healthier lifestyle – a better diet, more sleep, more exercise – as anxiety is often linked to stress and unhealthy habits.
For more specific treatment, Santos recommends Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Although the programme is different for each individual, one step could be learning how to handle anxiety and fear, both natural emotions used by humans in everyday life. Another is the gradual exposure to the colour itself. By creating custom stimuli to be used in therapy – in this case, using something like a Pantone colour chart – the patient can gradually work towards approaching the main phobic colour.
Milder sufferers may be able to try out some of these techniques by themselves. As well as exploring relaxation methods for dealing with anxiety and fear, they could experiment with a gradual exposure to colour, whether by doing something like picking a bunch of daffodils, or even using a shade to decorate a wall in their home. It’s these apparently small but significant steps that can help the chromophobic manage their fear, enabling them to live life in full colour once again.
Introducing Valspar paint
Valspar can create as many colours as the eye can see – that’s 2.2 million shades, so if your heart is set on a colour, Valspar can match it. What’s more you can save your colour preferences on Valspar’s system, so whether it’s the ideal shade for Laura’s bathroom, or dad’s study, you’ll remember for future reference.
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