A
male
age
36-40,
anonymous
writes:This is probably a rather weird question, but I was at a BBQ with my girlfriend, and the food was being served to us. Someone handed her a plate, and it had a small amount of corn on it. She freaked out, refused to look at it, and asked me to remove it from view. That wasnt enough though, I had to put the corn in a plastic container under the table so it was really "gone."I have to say, I was pretty baffled. I have never seen her act like that before. I know some people are picky eaters, but this was just crazy.I've tried asking her about it, but she wont, she gets very defensive and says even talking about stresses her out.Is this normal? Shes never had food poisoning. It looked like she was having a panic attack, and Im kind of worried if there is anything else I should maybe know about in terms of her possible issues with food etc. Reply to this Question
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female
reader, chigirl  +, writes (3 July 2013):
 Sounds like a phobia. They are often weird. And people can genuinely have phobias for everything. There's some people who have phobia for knees even. Wonder how they make it through the summer.
So your girlfriend gets panic attacks from corn. Okay. If you want to talk about it I suggest asking her parents/siblings, as they probably know more, and since just talking about it creeps her out.
I don't think this has anything to do with food in general, sounds much more like a phobia for corn specifically. Maybe you should try your luck and ask her if she could write down other things, if any, that she reacts this way to? Or maybe write you an explanation for why she reacted the way she did. If she's unable to talk about it maybe she can write it down.
And just get to know her better, it's too early to say anything really, you need to get to know her better. But I wouldn't say this is a red flag, more like a quirk.
A
female
reader, CindyCares  +, writes (3 July 2013):
 It's just one of those things... who knows what unpleasant memory or accident she associates with corn, it can be something since way before she developed memory or language skills. And it does not have to be specifically to be associated with corn, it may be the colour or the smell or the shape that reminds her of something " bad " she has experienced when she was... maybe 10 months.
My 12 year niece has a phobia for lettuce leaves- and tomato slices . The funny thing is that she eats both vegs on their own, - but if in a restaurant she is served anything with, say, a decoration of lettuce that MIGHT have touched the meat or fish- there's nothng to do, she will send back the whole plate. Her mother does not remember any episode involving lettuce or tomato slices, and has never forced to eat anything in her life. The kid is a normal , well adjusted kid, with plenty of friends, good at school and good in sports. So, go figure. These irrational adversions aren't that uncommon.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (3 July 2013): I have a friend who has a full on phobia of how potatoes look when they start to 'sprout'. She said the look of them makes her heart start racing and really freaks her out. It's weird and there doesn't seem to be a reason for it, but it's how she is. It sounds like your girlfriend has some sort of phobia too as opposed to issues with food.
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A
male
reader, anonymous, writes (3 July 2013): To me, it sounds like she's allergic to corn.
Allergies alone won't cause panic attacks, obviously, but bad memories of severe allergic reactions certainly could.
Severe allergies are no joking matter, either. They can be fatal, and if severe enough they can kill in a short time (less than an hour, or even a few minutes if you're very unlucky).
And it doesn't take much to trigger such a reaction in a person with a severe allergy. Even trace amounts can be enough; I myself once got a reaction severe enough to warrant immediate medical attention from a barely visible smidge of peanut sauce.
OP, it's propably a good idea to ask your girlfriend wether she has any allergies, and move from there.
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A
female
reader, Honeypie  + ♥, writes (3 July 2013):
 Talk to her about it when you two are alone. I think it sounds kinda extreme too. I have issues with textures, but not how food looks, but each person are different.
Could be that corn makes her nauseous and therefore don't want to even look at them or (hopefully not) was little "dramatic" at the BBQ for other reason?
I would just ask her, what's up with her and corn, and if there are other things she don't like. It might be a good idea to know if there are things like that, that upsets her.
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A
female
reader, llifton +, writes (3 July 2013):
 i must say, that is extremely bizarre. i would be a little confused, too.
she won't tell you what her issue with corn is?
i guess i would just assume something tragic happened while corn was present, lol. it is really weird, but i would just let it go for the moment. clearly she doesn't want to talk about it.
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A
female
reader, theres_always_a_loophole +, writes (3 July 2013):
 Maybe she had a really bad experience with corn?
I ask because my husband's aunt who to this day won't eat anything that is blue. For example, when she gets a bag of m&ms she picks out all the blue ones, and either throws them away or gives them to someone. Reason being when she was a kid, her great grandmother used to make cake with blue icing that tasted horrible. But her mother always insisted she have a slice whenever they visited, because it was the polite thing to do. That was when she was like 5, and she's 40 now. It just goes to show how even the littlest things in someone's past can greatly affect them. Something like this may have happened to your girlfriend.
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