It has been a weekend of rain, sport and reality television…

It rained non-stop and some parts of the UK are flooded… England lost at Rugby to the All Blacks and brought to an end a rather miserable Autumn series… Tottenham Hotspur put NINE goals past Wigan yesterday and Jermaine Defoe scored five second half goals… Jedward were voted off the X-Factor and katie price walked out of I’m a celebrity… I had my in-laws around for Sunday lunch and then lazed around in the afternoon in fron tof the fire, studying and browsing the Sunday papers… Very welcome following an incredibly busy week and having to work for much of Saturday…

So I was not going to blog today because I wrote yesterday… And then I saw this story over at the Telegraph that I had to mention today…

Vicki Larrieux, a 22-year-old student from Portsmouth, just along the south coast from me here, claims she is unable to keep to a healthy diet because she is frightened of vegetables. She suffers from a fear known as lachanophobia, which leaves her sweating and stricken with panic attacks at the merest sight of a sprout or a pea.

Miss Larrieux survives on a diet of meat, potatoes, cereals and an occasional apple but refuses even a single slice of carrot on her dinner plate. ”I have always had an irrational fear of vegetables even as a child I used to properly freak out if some carrots or a few peas were on my plate,” she said. ”But as it continued into adult life I started to think it might not just be a dislike for vegetables but an actual phobia.

“Every time I would see vegetables not just on my plate, but anywhere I would get feelings of panic, start sweating and my heart rate would shoot up. ”People might think it is a bit of a laughable affliction but I have a genuine fear of greens it’s not just that I dislike the taste of sprouts or broccoli, but the actual sight of them fills me with dread and I could never touch them.”

I can’t imagine my life without the joy of broccoli, green beans, carrots, artichokes, asparagus and all those other scrummy fare that make their way onto my plate each day… Now if ever there was a candidate for hypnotherapy, surely this girl is it, no?

The fact is, there is a very powerful form of self-hypnosis this young lady is perpetuating… Her very belief that she is fearful of vegetables enhances her fear… She has been allowing herself (and those around her have been allowing her) to carry on with this ridiculous notion and it is working wonderfully well now. The fear is working.

It is very tough to have a panic attack. You have to speed your heart rate up, dilate your blood vessels, breathe fast and do all manner of things in your mind… Then you have to remember to do it without fail each time that stimulus presents itself… It takes a lot of practice to get that good at having a panic attack, especially every time a vegetable is present!!!

Well done Vicki, it is quite an accomplishment to be doing what you are doing. Go see a hnypnotherapist… Heck, there is a fabulous hypnotherapist just along the coast from you in Bournemouth… 😉