Cumpunophobia: symptoms and treatment features

The best scholarly minds of Germany in the 13th century could not have imagined that the functional and useful buttons that they presented to mankind could be perceived by someone as a product of horror. Cumpunophobia is a panic fear of buttons. It is a rather rare phobia, according to some reports it occurs in one case per 75 thousand people. And such fear seems ridiculous to everyone around, except for the kumpunophobe himself.

Cumpunophobia is a mental disorder that is accompanied by a pathological fear of buttons. Most people have not even heard of such a disease, and it may seem funny to them. Believe me, there is nothing funny about this mental disorder. In any case, for the person most susceptible to illness.

The International Classifier of Diseases (ICD-10 version) includes kumpunophobia in the list of phobic disorders under the code F-40. This means that people who are afraid of buttons need professional medical attention, as their rare and unusual disorder can significantly reduce the quality of life and cause associated mental disorders. The name of its disorder is derived from the Latin koumpouno - "button".

Whatever it was, the fact remains - there are people who are afraid of buttons, try not to wear clothes with such accessories, diligently avoid contact with other people who have large, noticeable buttons on their clothes. There are many ways to express this fear.

There are other people living in the world - phylobutonists. These are button collectors who have no souls in this accessory. And it is very good that both kumpunophobia and phylobutonistics are quite rare phenomena, otherwise it is difficult to imagine with what sad consequences sudden meetings of kumpunophobes with owners of rich button collections could end.

What can be scary in an ordinary button? Kumpunophobe knows exactly the answer to this question. These objects seem disgusting to the patient, their appearance is unpleasant, they are unpleasant to the touch. The more buttons there are, the stronger the anxiety and unconscious expectation of danger.

Kumpunophobes understand that their fear is irrational and difficult to explain logically. But in a state of horror when faced with buttons, finding themselves in a dangerous situation for themselves, people with such a phobia simply lose the ability to control their actions, reactions, and the situation around. Severe forms of phobia can manifest as panic attacks.

To live in peace, phobes try to organize their life, excluding from it possible situations in which fear appears. Of course, you can only buy and wear clothes with zippers, no buttons. But how to ride in transport, visit shops, communicate with people at work, if every first person has objects that cause a wide range of emotions - from anxiety to panic?

Therefore, we can safely say that this phobia is a danger to a person's health and life, as it makes him limit his daily life, feel anxiety and anxiety, reduce social contacts and visit public places.

The causes of this disorder are still not well understood, because the phobia itself was recognized as a mental disorder only recently, and its relatively low prevalence does not allow collecting as much information about the violation as possible. But there are several factors that could theoretically trigger the fear of buttons.

Children often put small things in their mouths and many swallow buttons. If the button is small and leaves the body naturally by itself, there is no reason to worry. But sometimes children swallow and inhale the buttons are quite large. The fear of parents, unpleasant sensations associated with subsequent medical manipulations to remove the swallowed button may persist in the subconscious for a lifetime.

Children's experience may also be associated with punishment for buttons scattered or taken without demand, for buttons cut off by an inquisitive baby from mother's dress coat, etc. If the punishment was significant, it is quite possible that the image of buttons in the subconscious will forever be closely related expectation of pain, punishment, danger.

Experience is not always traumatic and not always one's own. A child could have toys with buttons sewn on instead of eyes; during a period of illness or bad mood, he could see a cartoon about Carolina in the Land of Nightmares, where all the characters had buttons instead of eyes.

Quite often, it is very difficult for a person to remember which event caused the formation of a negative attitude towards buttons in childhood. The event itself traumatizing the psyche can be erased from memory, but the mechanism launched by it cannot.

People can find themselves in awkward situations associated with buttons, and if a person is impressionable, vulnerable, attaches great importance to the opinions of others, he may well experience the strongest emotions that will initiate kumpunophobia. For example, a button on a teenager's fly came off at the wrong moment - in a lesson, when he was answering at the blackboard, during a public speech, in front of a girl who really likes it.

Sometimes a person cannot cope with a button - to fasten or unfasten in some important situation. This causes excitement, hands begin to shake and the button becomes even more difficult to unfasten. This happens in young people during the first sexual contact, and then elements of kumpunophobia can arise along with some intimate phobias and obsessive thoughts, which can complicate a person's adult sexual life.

A person who cannot sew on a button in any way can also become the object of ridicule of others, while he may experience the strongest fear of losing authority, respect, and the image of a hated button will be closely associated with a feeling of panic.

Often, cumunophobia acts not as an independent disease, but as a symptom of other mental problems. Fear of buttons occurs in schizophrenia, delusional disorders, compulsive disorders, and paranoia. In this case, the strange attitude towards popular fasteners and decorative buttons is not the most important "weirdness". A person can be convinced that the buttons are poisoned, inhabited by microbes, dirty, he will avoid touching them not only on his clothes.

A specific gene has not been identified that could ensure the transmission of phobias by inheritance, but the educational factor takes place. If parents are afraid of something and avoid something, the child's brain perceives it as a threat, and therefore a kumpunophobic parent may well grow up a child with the same mental disorder.

The fear of buttons can be different: some are afraid of the sight of large buttons, others only of small ones. To some, the sound of a falling button, buttons falling out seems terrifying, while others are terrified by the prospect of actions with buttons - fastening or unbuttoning, sewing. Some are afraid only of wooden products, others are afraid of plastic or metal accessories. In rare cases, a person may experience fear of all the listed objects, as well as of images, photographs, drawings on which buttons are depicted.

Since buttons are extremely common on people's clothing, kumpunophobes try to avoid being in crowded places - in a crowd, in rush hour transport, at social events. A sudden encounter with a frightening situation can cause vegetative signs: fear generates an adrenaline rush, which dilates the pupils, makes blood flow to the muscles, changes the heart rate, and jumps in blood pressure can be observed.

Kumpunophobe may experience an attack of nausea, his legs and arms are shaking, nausea, vomiting, and loss of consciousness are possible. Experts note that very often kumpunophobia is accompanied by increased disgust, and therefore a person may feel an irresistible desire after a panic attack to wash and even wash all his clothes.

Over time, an undiagnosed and untreated phobia gets worse.

It is quite difficult to cope with this phobia on your own. It is imperative to consult a specialist - a psychiatrist or psychotherapist. The most effective method of overcoming such phobias today is considered psychotherapy.

Gradually, the patient begins to gradually immerse himself in an environment that previously caused him panic - he will sew and unfasten buttons, wear things with them.If cumunophobia is accompanied by high anxiety, may be recommended antidepressant drugs. You should not expect a result from drugs without psychotherapy - the relief will be temporary and not long-term.