Koutoumouphobia. Does anyone else have it?

[TheyRepulseMe]

Phobia of buttons.

I can barely type the word.

It's not that I'm scared of them. They just physically repulse me. Make me feel sick.

I hate them I hate them.

Re duvet covers, Cloudyberries, I have one with ties instead of poppers or buttons.😀

My dc does; dc is ND, so not sure if that may have an impact. Nightmare for school.

My daughter did as a baby! Shes 20 now and seems fine with all fastenings…

Yep, me 🙋🏻‍♀️ they make me want to gip. I don't really wear shirts (well, I have a denim shift with poppers).
I can do a button and zip fly, I'm OK with cardis that have buttons.
Could never ever wear a button skirt or dress.
Have cards/designs that have random buttons. And immensely dislike 'button boxes' in sewing kits. Yuck!

I actually love buttons so you phobic people can send them to me if you like. I do find it very unusual though and would love to know why this might develop.

This is absolutely fascinating I've never heard of it...although I must admit I've got an aversion of belly buttons the thought of someone touching mine or anyone else's makes me want to vomit 😂 but no problem with actual buttons

YES !! I'm not the weirdo everyone thinks I am. There are others too

Hate the wretched things.

I was told a workmate has it. I have a lovely skirt I like with huge ones, but have never worn it at work, because if it's true she has this, why upset her?
I dislike little fiddly buttons on my clothes, but that's not a phobia, so I can't say yes to your question. I would only bother if it's badly affecting your life (I'm thinking sleepsuits etc, if the poppers upset you), same as I'd only bother getting help for any phobia if it actually interferes with life, Say if it's flying for some people, but they never want to travel abroad, why spend time and money? But if it does affect you, you can get help, just because it's an unusual phobia doesn't make it less genuine than a fear of heights etc.

Yes, I have a friend who has this. Can cope with them on garments, but hates them loose. Has to screw up her courage to replace or sew on one.

interesting to learn about a new phobia - ah the weird old human mind hey!

I have a very specific phobia of very dry cracked earth, you know when it's a sort of repeated almost hexagonal pattern of broken parched earth.. wonder now whether that may be a type of trypophobia!

I think it’s to do with the bit of your brain which gets disgusted by things getting a bit mis-wired as a child. You can re-wire it but I think it takes a fair bit of effort once it’s ingrained.

I think they have shown people in MRI scanners who have this phobia the same bit of their brain lights up as other people looking at insects or blood or similar.

I have it too. Any size, any style (but the ones with holes are the worst), attached or loose. Loose are the absolute worst.

I'm very good at hiding it, like when I have to cope with the kids' uniform. I feel like I have to wash my hands after.

I don't want to have therapy because I can't stand the thought that I might become OK with them, I hate them that much.

Yes my daughter does. She has done since she was tiny and she's 14 now! No idea why or if anything triggered it. We have to be mindful of what clothes we wear in our house!

I am OK with shirt buttons, but anything much bigger gives me the boak.

Wobbly buttons are the worst, you know the ones on blazers etc that are sewn on by a loop on the back rather than through holes.

And let's not even mention if the stitching has come undone and there's a button hanging by a thread

Bobbly cardigans also give me the boak and if I see a bobbly cardigan with big wobbly buttons then I am likely to 🤮🤮

It's funny that most of us who have it seem to find it a million times worse when they're loose but can just about cope when they're attached. I wonder what that's about.
Although actually, now I think about it, I feel the same about coins lying loose. If they're in a purse or something that's fine, but if I see one lying on a table or window ledge etc I have exactly the same reaction.

How about a fear of stickers? That is an issue here.

Oh! I haven’t heard of this one but just googled it. Although I wouldn’t say I had it or felt phobic feelings I must say the pictures that came up made me feel a bit odd!

😂😂😂😂😂 surely nobody takes this kind of thing seriously?

I mean I guess once someone gives it a name people can go “oooh yeah, I have this phobia” and demand trigger warnings and the like.

Well it is a very serious not funny phobia to my young ND child. You do realise we are not all the same?

Me. 🤢

@Htcunya that sounds rather sophisticated, I could go with ties!

It's the holes in them that gets to me, so I have more of a phobia to holes then actual bxxxxxs.

I started it when I saw underwater flowers with loads of them.

I'm better now but it's taken me 35 odd years to get to the point I can touch without a big reaction.

That being said I'll never be able to sew one back on clothes.

I don't but DS2 does. He's always had it ever since he could express a preference about clothing. I thought it was just the baby neck poppers he didn't like because they felt cold or tight or something (he rejected those since about 1yo) but it turned out it was all buttons and poppers. Then he went though a phase where nobody else was allowed to wear clothing with buttons. He has got past that now and will wear e.g. jeans with a smooth button if he really absolutely has to but still prefers zips or stretchy waistbands.

He seemed repulsed by them. He also hates things with a repeated pattern of holes (trypophobia) which I do too, and it seems for him, these are the same thing. I find this fascinating and I'm sure there is some brain wiring involved. Trypophobia is fairly common and they think it's something about avoiding things which could be decayed or diseased and people who have it are oversensitive to these patterns.

It's not about giving it a name and it's not about demanding trigger warnings. But you do accept that phobias exist and are actually a perfectly serious and often quite debilitating condition to sufferers? Or do you just like making fun of people without having any real insight into what you're laughing at?

I have no fear of heights, for example, or spiders or flying or any number of things, but I can't imagine being so lacking in empathy that I'd just laugh and use a string of stupid emojis at people who do.

Yes, I can handle them from a functional perspective, but not ‘loose’ (my mother’s button tin ☹️), not decoratively. I remember Madonna had an outfit covered in buttons and it still makes me shudder. But I also have that revulsion of things that look like rashes or a bit fleshy, or round objects, like lots of small mushrooms in a field. Polka dot patterns don’t seem to have the same effect. Fuck knows why.