diagnosis: bananaphobia

In the past, my pointless carried stories of unusual phobias... like the fears of buttons, knees and peas.  This metro.co.uk carried the story of another sort of fear... here is the story:

"Fran Dando is so scared of bananas that all it needs is a glimpse of one to make her shake, sweat profusely and even vomit.  The 21-year-old children’s worker suffers from bananaphobia, an overwhelming fear of the yellow fruit.

‘It began when I was seven and my brother put a banana in my bed as a joke,’ said Ms Dando, from Hastings, East Sussex.

‘I felt his horrible, slimy thing underneath my body. I was frozen in panic and hyperventilating. Ever since then, if I see one the same feeling comes back.’

She has since been forced to dodge bananas in shops and turn a blind eye to them in the fruit bowl at friend’s houses.

‘I generally do not explain my fear unless a situation comes up. Then I will say: ‘Sorry I am going to have to leave the room’. It is embarrassing – it is such a nonsensical fear.’

However, Ms Dando’s two-year-old son, Harrison, loves bananas, which has put her in a tricky situation. ‘I have to use a blanket to pick them up and put them in the trolley and then when I am at home I have to wear rubber gloves and use a tea towel to open one and give it to him,’ she said."

http://snipr.com/10rgyf   [www_metro_co_uk]