Woman with rare phobia of popular condiment suffers panic attacks on sight: ‘Like being held at gunpoint’
She’s off the sauce for good.
A woman battling mortuusequusphobia — a crippling fear of ketchup — is speaking out about her struggle, calling her tomato trouble no laughing matter.
Comparing a confrontation with the so-called “creepy” condiment to “being held at gunpoint,” Leigh Woodman said she’s not only had to steer clear of it for as long as she can remember — the Briton has also been forced to endure joking from people who don’t take her suffering seriously.
Because an encounter with the dreaded dip can lead the Bristol woman to feel like she’s “having a panic attack,” she’s banned ketchup from her home, avoids looking at it if she’s aware it’s somewhere near her and would toss any “infected” crockery that comes into contact with the apparently vile, viscous stuff.
“I can’t even look at a bottle [of ketchup] or have it anywhere near me,” Woodman, 32, confessed to her social media followers in a video that quickly racked up close to a million views, Kennedy News & Media reported.
“I’m fully aware of how dramatic it sounds, and I’ve always been embarrassed by it. If someone were to hold me at gunpoint, I would freeze and panic, and that’s exactly how I’d feel if someone shoved ketchup in my face,” she said.
And she’s completely stumped as to how it all started — though her mother claims that she in fact enjoyed the famed french fry accompaniment as a child.
“I’ve no idea how this all began, because it’s [happened for] as long as I can remember. I just remember being absolutely petrified of it and I’ve just never been able to even look at it,” Woodman said. “I know [if there’s ketchup in the room] to not even look at it or pay any attention to it.”
“If it’s put in my face, I’ll freeze. It’s more of a panic attack,” she said.
And what exactly is it that she hates so much about the diner table staple?
“The smell and the texture is really bad,” Woodman said, noting that while she generally doesn’t like tomatoes, no other tomato products affect her the same way ketchup does.”
“If someone waved it in my face, I would be sick. The smell of it just makes me feel so sick. My worst fear is it being all over my dishwasher because I would never be able to use that or any of my plates or cutlery again. It makes me feel panicky,” she expressed.
Some people, Woodman explained, are afraid of ketchup because it reminds them of blood — which is not what it’s about for her.
By speaking up, she hopes that she can break the stigma.
“Because it’s not a well-known phobia and fear, I think people just see it as a joke and find it funny,” she said.
“I think people should definitely take it more seriously.”
“I wouldn’t be interested in even trying [exposure therapy]. This is just something I think I’m going to have to live with forever.”
Things could be worse for Woodman — a fellow mortuusequusphobia fighter previously went viral after revealing on TikTok that the hardest part of her job as a waitress was refilling ketchup receptacles.
Alexandriah Govan, 23, showed herself gagging and cringing as she fought the urge to purge — while topping off a line of Heinz bottles.
“I developed a fear of ketchup after my sister sprayed a bottle of it on me,” the Glaswegian shared.
