There is a litany of phobias that people suffer from. You can actually develop a phobia for just about anything. A phobia is an irrational fear of a typically harmless object or event. A mustard phobia is the fear of mustard.
A mustard phobia is not a simple dislike for mustard. It is an absolute fear of getting mustard on your skin or even seeing mustard. It may sound strange to people that do not have phobias but it can actually cause physical symptoms like heart palpitations, nausea, dizziness and a sense of panic.
Why It Happens
No one really can pinpoint why something as innocuous as mustard would be an issue for anyone but it is very likely that the mustard phobia is not the only thing going on. Some mental health experts feel that any phobia is related to a trauma of some sort that occurred either as a child or an adult and mustard would have had to have been somehow involved or played a role in the setting of the event.
For example a child loses their mother to a car accident on fourth of July right after they left a picnic where hot dogs with mustard were served. The mustard phobia may develop because the un-conscious part of the psyche associates mustard with the event.
Another example is there was a mustard commercial playing on TV when there was something awful happening to the child. While the traumatic event may have been put to rest many years ago the thought of mustard brings all the feelings of the event back to the surface.
Treatment
Like any other phobia the treatment involves getting to the root problem and treating it. Once there has been some treatment the mustard phobia will likely disappear. Seeking treatment is very important because while living without mustard on your hot dog is not so bad, it is not a healthy reaction and it should be addressed.
Our minds can be a wicked place and if we let one phobia manifest and not do anything about it there may be others on the way so keeping phobias in check is very important. Treatment can consist of prescription medication, psychotherapy with behavior modification techniques. The medication can help with underlying panic disorder. The psychotherapy can help to reveal any underlying issues and the behavior modification will help you to get past your mustard phobia.