Xanthophobia

Last reviewed Thursday, January 16, 2025

Xanthophobia is an intense, lasting fear of the colour yellow. The fear is out of proportion to any real danger, and the person either avoids yellow things or puts up with them in great distress. It isn’t a diagnosis of its own: a clinician would class it as a specific phobia, a common anxiety condition that responds well to treatment.

Also called: fear of yellow, fear of the colour yellow, a specific phobia. The name joins the Greek xanthós, “yellow”, to phobia, “fear”.

We found no published research on xanthophobia itself (a PubMed search on 24 October 2026 returned no studies), so this entry draws on what is known about specific phobias in general.

Signs and symptoms

Seeing yellow, or expecting to, can bring on:

severe anxiety, dread or a panic attack
a pounding heartbeat, a tight chest, trembling or shaking
dizziness, feeling sick, or a strong fear of fainting or losing control

Over time the fear shapes daily life. A person might refuse yellow clothes or food, avoid certain shops or rooms, or plan routes around yellow vehicles. To count as a phobia, the fear has to be out of proportion to the danger, lead to avoidance or great distress, and last several months.

Causes

It isn’t always clear why a phobia starts. Many follow a frightening or stressful experience, which for xanthophobia might be a sting, an accident or an illness that memory links with something yellow. Phobias can also be learned from a parent or friend who has one, and they tend to grow when other people react badly to the fear. They are more common in women and in families with a history of anxiety. Most begin in childhood, the teenage years or young adulthood: across many countries, half of all specific phobias have started by about age 8.

Treatment

The main treatment is exposure therapy, often as part of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). With a therapist, you face the feared thing gradually, in small planned steps: perhaps looking at a pale yellow picture, then holding a yellow object, then wearing something yellow.

A review of 33 trials found that exposure-based treatment worked well, and better than other talking therapies. Facing the real thing in person did better by the end of treatment than imagining it or using virtual reality, though the gap had closed at follow-up. Several sessions did slightly better than a single session. The NHS also lists hypnotherapy, and medicines such as antidepressants or beta blockers, prescribed by a doctor. Breathing exercises and talking to someone you trust can help in the meantime.

In Nigeria

In some places yellow is hard to avoid. In Lagos, the approved colours for danfo and korope minibuses are red or yellow with black stripes, so a fear of yellow can make an ordinary commute hard.

Specific phobias are not rare here. In Nigeria’s national mental health survey (6,752 adults in 21 states, 2002 to 2004), 5.9% had had one at some point, close to the 7.4% found across World Mental Health surveys in many countries. Few people get help for anxiety: in the same survey, only about 1 in 9 Nigerians with an anxiety disorder in the past year had any treatment. WHO notes that in some settings fear is explained mainly through outside forces, such as witchcraft or envy, rather than as anxiety (see spiritual attack). You can hold your faith and still get treatment that works for the fear.

Xanthophobia vs disliking yellow

Plenty of people dislike yellow. A dislike is a preference. A phobia brings real anxiety, leads to avoidance and lasts for months. A therapist will also check whether something else explains the fear. If yellow brings back a frightening event, with flashbacks or nightmares, it may be post-traumatic stress. If the fear is about contamination or bad luck and comes with rituals, it may be OCD.

When to get help

See a professional if the fear is affecting your life: your work, your travel, what you wear or where you go. You can book a therapist for anxiety and panic attacks on Mytherapist.ng.

Phobias often start in childhood. If you’re a parent worried about a child’s fear, start with a family doctor or paediatrician, the school counsellor, or Cece Yara’s free 24-hour child line (0800 800 8001). You can also book therapy for yourself as a parent.

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