By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-15 14:59:13 | Updated at 2024-11-22 09:51:15
6 days ago
The Swedish minister for gender equality has admitted she needs help to tackle her phobia of bananas as she requires aids to sweep rooms to remove the fruit before she can enter.
Paulina Brandberg said she is currently seeking medical treatment for what she has described as 'the world's weirdest phobia' after emails revealing her staff's 'banana-proofing' actions were leaked to Expressen.
Emails reportedly sent before she made official visits requested there to be 'no traces of bananas' in the room she would be in, claiming Brandberg had a 'strong allergy' to the fruit.
In another email, her staff said there must not be any banana's in any of the spaces she entered at an event she was attending, with the host's response reading: 'We will secure the conference so that there are no bananas'.
A third email from Brandberg's team sent to a county administrative board said that 'no bananas are allowed on the premises.'
Paulina Brandberg said she is currently seeking medical treatment for her bananaphobia
Sweden's prime minster, Ulf Kristersson, said on Thursday that Brandberg's problem had not affected government work. Pictured: Brandberg and a guest attend Sweden's National Day on June 06, 2024 in Stockholm
A banana phobia can be triggered by seeing or smelling the yellow fruit, and can induce anxiety and nausea
The gender equality minister herself admitted to having a phobia of bananas in several social media posts in 2020, which appear to have been deleted after the news broke this week.
'I have a phobia of bananas,' wrote Brandberg in one post on September 11, 2020, while in another on August 6, 2020 she said it is the 'world's craziest phobia.' reports Politico.
Bananaphobia
Bananaphobia is rare and uncommon, but most cases begin in childhood.
The phobia can be triggered by seeing or smelling the fruit and can cause serious symptoms including nausea and anxiety.
While some people’s fear is triggered by the appearance of a banana or its peel, others may feel distressed by its smell, texture, or taste.
Bananaphobia falls under the umbrella of Cibophobia - an extreme fear of food.
Like other phobias, food phobia can be treated with cognitive behavioral therapy or exposure therapy.
Sweden's prime minster, Ulf Kristersson, said on Thursday that Brandberg's problem had not affected government work.
'I have all the respect for people who have different phobias,' he said.
'I am disturbed when a hard-working cabinet minister is almost reduced to a phobia and people make fun of it. I think you should be too good for that.'
Brandberg's fellow politicians also fled to her defence after the requests for banana-free zones made global headlines.
The education minister, Johan Pehrson, a fellow Liberal, said the media attention in response to the revelations was 'absurd'.
'She is a staunch liberal and former prosecutor. Often in cases where she stood on the side of vulnerable women. We should all be able to focus on that instead,' he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Teresa Carvalho, a MP from the opposition Swedish Social Democratic Party and its spokesman for legal policy, said she also suffered from bananaphobia.
'We may have had many tough debates about conditions in working life, but on this issue we stand united against a common enemy,' she told Brandberg on X.
A banana phobia can be triggered by seeing or smelling the yellow fruit, and can induce anxiety and nausea.
There are several phobias and food allergies that are not officially classified.
The gender equality minister herself admitted to having a phobia of bananas in several social media posts in 2020
Emails reportedly sent before she made official visits requested there to be 'no traces of bananas' in the room she would be in. Pictured: Brandberg attends a ceremony in connection with the opening of the Swedish Parliament's fall session on September 10, 2024 in Stockholm
Bananaphobia is a rare ailment and has not been classified officially, but according to the International Classification of Diseases, fears of food are placed in a group of specific, isolated phobias.
It comes after one woman revealed she had such an extreme phobia of bananas, she could not eat one for 20 years.
Paula Ross' fear became so bad that she couldn't bear to be in the same room as the fruit and felt sick if she smelled one.
She suffered torment at school as bullies chased her round the playground brandishing bananas but only got through her fear after a programme of hypnotherapy.
And one other woman revealed she could not walk down the fruit aisle in any supermarket shop due to her fear of the fruit.
If Fran Dando even caught a glimpse of a banana, it would cause the children's worker to hyperventilate, sweat profusely and even vomit.
Fran said in 2010: 'It began when I was seven and my brother James put a banana in my bed as a joke.
'I climbed into bed and, as I lay down, I felt this horrible slimy thing underneath my body. I had no idea what is was, but it frightened the life out of me.
'Ever since then, if I see one, the same feeling comes back over me again.'
