Pickle Phobia

Status: Undetermined
image Some of the things I post about aren't the most intelligence-enhancing things in the world. I know that. But what follows is really scraping the bottom of the barrel, so to speak. It's a woman who appeared on the Maury Povich Show who claims to be Pickle-Phobic. The mere sight of pickles sends her into a state of screaming panic. Her fear of pickles is ruining her life. Here's what she has to say:
"My name is Mariah, and I hate pickles. I hate everything about... Pickles are destroying my life. People make fun of me. I feel ashamed. I'm actually afraid of them. I think about pickles I just want to throw up and run away. What I hate most about pickles is the shape, the texture of it, the color. Ewww!"
I realize that people can have irrational phobias about things, but a phobia of pickles? She must be joking. No way can this be real. My vote is that she's either making this up completely, or exaggerating it a lot in order to get on TV. And even if she were terrified of pickles, surely it would be easier for her to simply avoid pickles, rather than to try to cure her of the problem.

Photos Psychology

Posted on Sun Jul 09, 2006



Comments

I used to be deathly afraid of rhododendrons when I was a little kid...totally irrational I know--I thought they had lead or something--but I think that kind of an irrational fear could very well last to adulthood.
Posted by Somebody  on  Sun Jul 09, 2006  at  07:36 PM
I have always had a fear of listening to repeated sounds. If I listen to the sound of dripping water, or repetitive beeping for more than a minute or so, I just get terribly nervous and have this horrible feeling of anxiety. I always run out of the room in horror before this happens.
Posted by Cheese  on  Sun Jul 09, 2006  at  08:09 PM
I'm more than willing to believe this is real

I have a phobia just as irrational (though admittedly I don't run screaming at the mere sight of them)

Very few people even know what my phobia is, I'm only too conscious of the fact that when people know what you're scared of they will use it against you (even your friends who no doubt think it's funny to tease you)
Posted by Sharruma  on  Sun Jul 09, 2006  at  09:38 PM
I sent my secret fear on a postcard to http://www.postsecret.com but he didn't post it, durnit. And I fully agree with you Sharruma!!!
Posted by thephrog  on  Sun Jul 09, 2006  at  11:54 PM
Why, Alex, it's almost as if you're saying that a fine, upstanding TV program like Maury Povich's would make something up! I'm shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you.
Posted by Cranky Media Guy  on  Mon Jul 10, 2006  at  02:41 AM
Get that damn pickle out of your nose!
Posted by outeast  on  Mon Jul 10, 2006  at  02:42 AM
I can completly believe this. I have had a phobia of wet tissue (pls dont ask!) for years which i am sure is completly irrational!!
Posted by Lucy  on  Mon Jul 10, 2006  at  03:04 AM
I've seen bits & pieces of a few of those shows...and they seem really over the top. The people freaking out look as if they're faking it. I've seen people freak out FOR REAL over something they fear. (Sometimes rational, sometimes not.)
Posted by Maegan  on  Mon Jul 10, 2006  at  04:57 AM
Could very well be made up given that it is in a TV Show. But: there are more weird phobia out there than you can imagine, Alex...
One of the main hallmarks of a phobia by the way that it is irrational.
Posted by LaMa  on  Mon Jul 10, 2006  at  06:29 AM
There was a show on TV years ago (I can't remember the name) where people had to "face their fears". They went into a transparent cage thing which was then filled with whatever they were afraid of. Spiders I can understand, but oranges and insulation foam were a little stranger...
Anyway, I think this is possible, although it may just be a plea for attention. Only she knows...
Posted by Owen  on  Mon Jul 10, 2006  at  06:49 AM
Insects, deep water, and large objects (like standing near a huge ship) for me.
Posted by Mickyfinn  on  Mon Jul 10, 2006  at  09:22 AM
It was either one of the "Jackass" shows or the movie that one of the guys, I think his name is Rake, was terrified of mustard. So of course what do they do is buy big jars of mustard and dump them on him when he wasn't looking. He started yelling and snarling like it was killing him. In retaliation, he walked over to Bams' (the guy who threw the mustard on him) new BMW and started kicking and beating it putting dents in it.
Posted by Dae Dae  on  Mon Jul 10, 2006  at  10:46 AM
In the same show as the pickle fearing lady, on stage with her, was a lady scared of mustard. She worked at Burger King and never put mustard on anyone's burgers. She said, "I know it is 'get it your way' but you want mustard? Too bad, you ain't gettin' it!"

I saw this clip at http://www.i-am-bored.com.
I also saw on the Tyra Banks Show not too long ago (flipping channels, I don't watch daytime talk shows) a lady scared of pennies. It was so weird I stopped to watch for a few minutes. Tyra put an UGLY $600.00 watch in a fish tank (55 gallons or so) about 8-10 inches high full of pennies and told her to go get it.

It took her a while, but she did get it. Her fingernails were almost 3 inches long it looked like! I think it was more fear of ruining her new nail job than fear of pennies, myself.
Posted by thephrog  on  Mon Jul 10, 2006  at  11:48 AM
Here is another Maurey show item which was posted on glumbert.com which I find be even more unbelievable. White husband, white wife, baby of colour. Husband always thought the baby was his.

http://www.glumbert.com/media/blackbaby.html
Posted by Don Sucha  on  Mon Jul 10, 2006  at  12:40 PM
Wait... That's not a pickle...
Posted by Wally  on  Mon Jul 10, 2006  at  04:13 PM
I am deathly afraid of chihuahuas. I was attacked by a pack of them (23 to be exact) when I was a teenager and I have not been able to stand them since. Everyone else sees a little dog about 8" high that shakes, yips and has bug eyes. I see a zombie dog out of "Resident Evil" that wants to eat my eyeballs. Nothing rational about it, but that is what the do to me. Now I should mention that pictures or a tv commercial do not send me into fits, it has to be the real live thing.

When I worked at a book store many years ago, one of my fellow employees brought hers in and stuck it in my face. I screamed and climbed over a shelf that was behind the cash registers. Not a fun joke, but they figured out that I was serious.

I have seen some pretty strange phobias in my day too, (My Mother is terrified of butterflies and Moths) but a pickle paralyzing paranoid phobia is I think a little over the top, or bottom of the barrel, even for Maury Povich. I am just curious if she has the same reaction to cucumbers and vinegar, it is the essentially the same thing.
Posted by Lounge Lizard  on  Mon Jul 10, 2006  at  05:17 PM
;-) @ Wally
Posted by outeast  on  Tue Jul 11, 2006  at  01:09 AM
I have an irrational fear of mushrooms and fungus in general. I don't mind mushrooms when they're on pizza or in salads or cooked and I even like eating them, but when I see one growing in the wild it makes me shiver for some reason. I don't scream and go running in the other direction, they just give me goosebumps.
Posted by Sakano  on  Tue Jul 11, 2006  at  06:30 AM
I remember an episode of Maury where chick was catatonic over green olives. When asked why, she said at her father's funeral her dad sat up in his coffin and his eyes were green.
Posted by Egret Narcosa  on  Tue Jul 11, 2006  at  08:05 AM
...that's pretty horrible...I'm not sure why I laughed so much.
Posted by Owen  on  Tue Jul 11, 2006  at  08:57 AM
I suffere from tapinohypertrichotapinophobia, that is, I'm scared of small dogs in general, especially chihuahuas and ones with short hair. It all started when I was 7 years old and I was riding my bike down the road, and a chihuahua ran from its owner over to me, and into my front spokes. It jammed the spinning motion of the wheel, flipping me over. I was pretty much okay, but I couldn't really say the same for the person's dog.

Nowadays, if I'm out riding my bike, and a midget dog comes upon me, I disregard safety and go as fast as I can away from it. Pictures and videos of small dogs don't bother me, but if they are around me, I freak out.

I'm also have:

epistaxiophobia = nosebleeds (I think it's draining all my out.)

sitoclaustrohygrolygoclithrophobia = being hungry while locked in a dark, gloomy, damp, enclosed, small place.

vaccinophobia = vaccinations (Ouch.)

I'm not ly afraid like pickle , but I certainly to encounter those things and will freak out, but not screaming.
Posted by RedNeckOreo  on  Tue Jul 11, 2006  at  01:03 PM
My irrational fear is when a person rubs their skin (a foot or hand or whatever) on carpet or a carpet like substance. Ewww...I'm shivering just thinking about it. Also things like the sound of a broom sweeping on concrete.

Seriously, I can't be in the same room with someone doing that. I can't even think about it (as I am right now) without getting all freaked out and curling up in a ball on a chair where no part of my body can touch the carpet, just incase it rubs against it. Now I'm sure I do it all the time and not even notice, but it's when I do notice that I freak out. If my foot or something rubs the carpet, I have to sit on a chair or table and rub the offending body part with my hand to take the feeling away.

I don't think I ever even thougt before about how irrational it really is.
Posted by Razela  on  Tue Jul 11, 2006  at  03:02 PM
My fiance' is terrified of junebugs. If one happens to get in the house when letting the dogs inside at night, she flips out, running out of the room and does this opera-like "AHHHHHH" yell....hahaha it's hilarious. 😏
Posted by Josh  on  Tue Jul 11, 2006  at  08:13 PM
I think it's pickle-phobia is possible, but I'm deeply ashamed to admit I actually saw this episode of "Maury", and the girl jumped up and ran from the stage screaming at the sight of pickles. However, when a crew member walked right past her backstage carrying a tray FULL of pickles, she didn't even flinch. Clearly a con job.
Posted by SME  on  Tue Jul 11, 2006  at  11:09 PM
I'm afraid of the crunch sound snow makes when you step on it. It gives me shivers, but I can't avoid snow. I live in Canada.
Posted by Dracul  on  Wed Jul 12, 2006  at  09:46 AM
I'm with Dracul. On the rare occasion I walk on snow I cringe when I hear that sound and just the feeling of walking on it. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. Thank god no snow down here in Charleston! Just mugggy and Hot! Hot! Hot!
Posted by Dae Dae  on  Wed Jul 12, 2006  at  09:50 AM
http://www.changethatsrightnow.com/problem_detail.asp?SDID=341:1421

I think that this one's a bit more wierd. >_>
Posted by RedMage13  on  Thu Jul 13, 2006  at  08:34 AM
I'm a bit scared of being alone in alleys, empty movie theater and public bathrooms. I hate the dark, too.
Posted by Makeveli  on  Sat Jul 15, 2006  at  09:52 PM
I have the very familiar clown and mine aversion...but they are pretty sinister. As far as the fungus thing mentioned above...I feel squeamish about that too, and in general, signs of decay like wormwood and cracked paint. Also, when the sand on the beach dries out and cracks, I hate that...used to try and rub it out with my feet. And I also hate the sound nails make rubbing on those canvas backpacks; it's actually that material, whatever it is, that I am disgusted by. I think these minor aversions are pretty common, and they are nothing like the fear inspired by real phobias. By the way, I love pickles, people give me theirs off their sandwiches all the time.
Posted by Lina  on  Sat Jul 29, 2006  at  03:40 PM
The pickle phobia is unfortunately true. I have a nephew in southern california that totally freaks when you show hom a pickle. Screaming fits and throwing things even. His dad's brother also has it to the extent that he can't even be in the same room with a pickle.
Posted by myrddhn  on  Fri Aug 18, 2006  at  08:41 PM
I hate the pickles. All of them. And the mustard also. (I'm a 27 years man.)
Posted by pickle hater  on  Sun Nov 26, 2006  at  03:02 PM
I can tell you in all seriousness: phobia of pickles is no hoax. I know because I have an irrational fear of them. The sight of a pickle can send me screaming in terror. I don't even like seeing the word. (I can type it, but seeing what I've typed makes me wince and shudder.) I couldn't even watch most of the Maury video.

My guess is that it started because my brother would chase me around the house with pickles when I was little. Regardless, it is totally real as phobias go. I wouldn't say it's ruined my life; on average I encounter pickles only a handful of times a year. I've been teased about it, too.

I can't speak for the girl om the show, but my phobia does not extend to cucumbers or other pickled vegetables, just the pickle. Actually, I love cucumbers and eat a lot of Japanese cuisine which includes pickled vegetables. It makes no sense, but it's just the pickle.

It may sound crazy to you, but consider this: I think arachnophobia is ridiculous. Fear of heights or flying in an airplane? Totally irrational.

To each his own, eh?
Posted by Em  on  Mon Feb 19, 2007  at  05:27 AM
I almost forgot: my only other phobia is of stepping on snails. Obscure? Maybe. But go to Miami, Florida, where there are snails everywhere, and come talk to me after you've stepped on some. Euuugh. It is a sound like no other, and add to that the smearing of snail on your shoe.

Assuming you're lucky enough to have shoes on. :( Yeah, think about that a second.

Those are my only two phobias. Everything else in the universe I'm fine with.
Posted by Em  on  Mon Feb 19, 2007  at  05:37 AM
I have a friend that has the exact same phobia, not as severe perhaps. If you get a pickle within a few feet of her she runs, and if you put one on her plate she will not finish her food and will not clean it up because she is afraid to touch it.
Posted by Ryan  on  Tue Mar 20, 2007  at  09:47 PM
It's possible this lady has a pickle phobia because she was molested. I mean, really, think about it. Either with a pickle or something similiar. There are irrational fears, but there are also distant associations with things.

For example, there is a lady who was kidnapped for ransom, they played the movie "The Birds" in her room to cover the sounds of her screaming and squirming as they cut off her ears as proof. Can you imagine what she feels or thinks when seeing a large flock of birds or thinks of Hitchcock? What about Tony Soprano's panic attacks involving the butcher? Same thing. Have sympathy people.
Posted by John  on  Mon Sep 03, 2007  at  01:53 AM
Hi. I can totally understand what she's going through. I have a terrible fear of myself. Every time I hear myself speak or see my reflection I completely freak out... my heart picks up pace, my hair stands on end, my bowels move... it's ridiculous, but what can I say? I'm a scary mammal.
Posted by John Maljovich  on  Sat Apr 12, 2008  at  05:37 PM
i am terrified of carpet. i know it sounds crazy, but i can believe the pickles!!!
Posted by maury's girl  on  Thu May 15, 2008  at  04:06 PM
I get sick to my stomach at the thought of someone touching or rubbing carpet with their hands..eewwww. My whole body tenses up and I have to look away. The same goes for hands rubbing against jeans. I want to scream and yell. It even goes as far as my eyes hurting when it comes to the evil visual of hands rubbing carpet. Yuck,I am so creeped out right now. If I do happen to rub a demon fabric I find that water makes my hands feel normal again. another huge one is public restrooms.....need I say more.Ugg,so sick!!!
Posted by karen  on  Thu May 22, 2008  at  04:57 PM
i met a girl who had a phobia of pickles so apparently it can happen. tho very odd
Posted by robin  on  Mon Sep 08, 2008  at  09:03 PM
that shit is not funny

im the same way

pickles scare the living shit out of me. and i see exactly where shes comming from.
Posted by Hope  on  Sun Oct 05, 2008  at  11:40 PM
I have the same issue with carpet. It has even got to the point of folding towels drives me up a wall. I can NOT stand carpet to the point of wanting a house with out any carpet. I currently live in home with all wood floors. Funny enough, I don't mind the frilly bathroom rugs. But bur-bur (if that is how you spell it) is like my arch enemy. I didn't think that anyone else had this hatred. I am not in fear of carpet, but I really loathe it. Especially the sound of some rubbing ANYTHING across it drives me crazy. I have to immediately stand on linoleum or anything that is not carpet.
Posted by renee  on  Mon Jan 19, 2009  at  09:27 PM
Oh i hate it when someone rubs the carpet, and rubbing it myself feels just terrible! i can't say this is my phobia? it just doesn't feel nice, i agree, but that's about it. =/
Posted by juul  on  Sun Feb 08, 2009  at  03:28 PM
It's not funny and it's not a lie. I have a phobia of pickles. I've always thought there was something wrong with me. I mean, they're pickles right? It's just a pickle. But just the thought of them makes me want to throw up. A friend picked up a jar once and thought it was funny to chase me through the store with them. It's a real fear, even if it has no basis.
Posted by Nickelle  on  Fri Aug 07, 2009  at  11:08 AM
I think this is an over reaction. My fear of pickled things in jars seems irrational, but obviously it is hard to help a phobia. Of course to the extent that I avoid them, not scream and run away.
Posted by Zeela  on  Wed Oct 14, 2009  at  05:02 AM
I hate trains, ladybugs, elevators and clowns. Since I was young, I have always feared trains. I find that the screechy sound they make makes me shiver, and I used to fear that I would get caught under them. I can go on them, such as a Go-Train or Via, but I can't look at the tracks or bottom. My sister used to torment me with ladybugs, and to this day I can't stand them. Elevators, are, elevators. I have to hold onto the sides with my life, and if anyone trys to jump in them, I panic. And clowns. Honeslty, they are NOT cheerful! Nothing about them is fun! I worked at a haunted house, and since I couldn't see the mask, I was fine with being a clown. I made 2 teenage girls cry when I turned a corner on my way to lunch. I don't cry I just close my eyes and hide. But that goes to show how scary they are...
Posted by April  on  Thu Aug 12, 2010  at  08:05 AM
Apparently, you haven't payed attention to even basic psychology. Pickle phobia is not a rare phobia AT ALL. Being molested by a male makes phobias of things that has similarities to male genitalia. This is actually a pretty common phobia amongst people that have been molested. A very important thing is to know your facts before making a comment.
Posted by Polarnetter  on  Mon Sep 13, 2010  at  12:33 PM
I have a phobia for carpet too. But feet on carpet! I cried once because I touched it, i can't stand people walking on carpet with bare feet! i wear sock 24/7. #random i Know lol
Posted by Kat  on  Fri Nov 12, 2010  at  10:52 PM
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