What is chromophobia the fear of?

Chromophobia is the irrational fear of colors. The word comes from the Greek “chromos,” meaning color, and “phobos,” meaning fear. Chromophobia can be very debilitating for sufferers due to the modern multi-colored world.

Some people, however, are only affected by certain colors — for example, the color red. This is known as erythrophobia and can be linked to a fear of blushing. Fear of the color yellow is known as xanthophobia, and fear of the color green is prasinophobia.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a common cause of Chromophobia. An event in childhood might lead to permanent emotional scars associated with certain colors or shades which the phobic simply cannot outgrow. Events like child abuse, rape, death, accidents or violence, could all be related to a particular color causing the phobic to panic or become anxious in its presence.

The term colorphobia can also be used to refer to its literal etymological origin to refer to an apprehension towards image processing on one's vision and its visual perceptual property. However, the term's association with a racial component has been used by 1870s public figures such as Frederick Douglass*.

*Frederick Douglass, original name Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, (February 1818 -- February 20, 1895) was an escaped slave who became a prominent activist, author, orator, and a leader in the abolitionist movement before, during, and after the Civil War.