Koutoumouphobia. Does anyone else have it?

Gosh, yes.

Mine was learning to ride a bike, falling off on gravel, and bits of gravel stuck in my knee, lots of them, and my Mum having to get them out with tweezers and squeezing them out, leaving lots of holes in my knee.

I have only self diagnosed by the way but it makes sense to me that my trypophobia comes from that....

I have this too. Small ones on shirts are the absolute worst. The idea of being near someone wearing Pearly King or Queen outfit is absolutely revolting for me.

The movie Coraline is a hard no as well.

I have the button (shudder, could barely type the word there) phobia too. I never ever wear shirts or blouses, I can sort of deal with them on jeans or trousers since they're generally covered by your top (I can't tuck my tops in for this reason) and I only buy wrap or zip-up coats.

I will say, though, that if they're in their rightful place (ie sewn onto the garment), they're sort of bearable. If I saw one that had dropped on the floor, though, I don't think I could bring myself to pick it up. When you see a loose one that someone has picked up and put on a shelf or something, that actually makes me feel physically sick and I'd have to cover it up with something so as not to look at it.

My grandson has it. Apparently it is not as rare as one might think. He will not cuddle me if I am wearing anything with buttons. School uniform is a headache. He is OK in Primary but secondary will be a challenge is he has to wear shirts

Yes! Not me but a close family member. Absolutely terrified of them - fine if they're on clothing, but if there was a random one, say, on a table or in a packet hanging off clothing, she totally freaks out. Also, like a jar of buttons is her worst nightmare!

I googled trypophobia and shuddered and shut the page quickly. Now have goosebumps.

i don’t think i have anything as severe as a phobia about what came up, but id just rather not see them thanks. Weird feeling of absolute ugh.

My brother has this, on clothes ok, but he says if he opens a drawer and there is a loose button it makes him feel sick

I have a hunch that mine was also triggered by a junior school experience...dinner lady had a massive growth on her lower inner arm and almost always walked around with her sleeve rolled up. She used to wipe the table down right in front of you, which triggered my gag reflex.

Yes my sister has had this since a child! Also a phobia of coins, esp copper ones. Not sure what she’s got against round things 😅 glad it’s got a name

It is more common than you may think. If you want to stop having it, I suggest seeing an NLP practioner, who should be able to help with this in one session

Well, phobia is a Greek word, so I guess it's more coherent for the whole word to be Greek (or Greek-ish).

A great many phobias are made up. I just invented ailurokoinophobia which is a fear of online cat videos.

Oh my goodness, more people on here with trypophobia. I thought I was the only one, it is reassuring to know I'm not on my own.

I know someone with this, I think it is not a super rare phobia. I have trypophobia, not writing out what it is, you’ll have to google! I found out mine isn’t that rare either after thinking it was

I have always assumed that trypophobia was connected to a repulsion from some kind of biological threat, so innate (no idea if that's the case). So maybe b-things are misrecognised as some kind of unwanted creature or growth?

I do know we have a kind of built in pattern recognition in our visual perception eg for large and potentially threatening animals . There is a tree stump on my daily walk that I instantaneously "read" as a crouching animal Every. Single. Day. Even though a split second later I remember it is a tree stump.

So maybe these issues are related?

<sad eyes of Button Moon characters>

OMG, I have never met anyone who has this like me. It is quite manageable but there is a sense of revulsion when looking at something that so obviously triggers it.

Interestingly, I know exactly how it started... an incident from childhood (I don't want to relate it, in case it upsets you). I feel that knowing how it started helps me deal with it

Sympathy to @Whatafustercluck also

@TheyRepulseMe how does this phobia manifest?

I worked with a lady who had this. I didn't know she had it until I came into work with a bag that had a big button fastening. She asked me to turn it round so she couldn't see the button.

but obviously she sees smaller buttons on people's clothing all the time and she's alright with that.

My childhood best friend's mum had a button phobia! She was fine with ones sewn on, but not loose ones. I've never heard of anyone else having this phobia, it's so random!

@nomas I have trypophobia too - it's fucking hideous, because so many social media posts that just pop up on feeds unexpectedly can trigger immediate and absolute revulsion.

Me too! My mum used to take me to a haberdashery every Saturday and I was obsessed with their button display. Little clear plastic tubes (about the size of a kitchen roll inner) with a sample of the button each one contained attached to the lid, all laid on their sides with the sample button facing out.

I especially loved the ones with little printed bunnies or kittens on, shaped ones and those leathery ones that have a cross scored on them and are found on old bloke cardigans. My very favourite buttons in my own collection are my nativity buttons - they give me so much joy!

Do you think it's linked to trypophobia ie small holes, shadow patterns etc?

Selfishly, I'm so glad that trypophobia is common knowledge now. I grew up feeling repulsed by certain things but always thought it was me being weird so never told anyone. I had this toy that sat on a shelf that made me feel sick but I couldnt bring myself to touch it to move it. So I tried to just look at the floor all the time. 🤣

Ds2 had it I think he's ok now? School uniform was a problem. He's 25 now and doesn't have to wear clothes with buttons that often.

I think he'd almost choked on one at playgroup and that triggered it?

I have the opposite of this phobia. There's nothing I love more at the haberdashery than perusing their buttons, they're so unique and cute.

I collect them and keep them in a tin, they'll probably never get used, but they are there if the occasion arises.

You'd be safe in my house, as long as you don't open the button tin!

Same here with the trypophobia, I feel sick whenever I walk past the crumpets in Tesco!

What about chocolate ones? 🤤

Funnily enough I was going to post about I wonder if they are related? Aversion to round things, either repeated or not. So holes, and buttons.

I am a slightly trypophobic, although it seems to be lessening.