What Can I Do? My Child 5 Years Old Hate Buttons! When He Sees Any Buttons He Feel Disgusted And Throws Water From His Mouth

Weirdly enough, button phobia among young children is not that uncommon. In fact, it's one of the more common phobias in adults.

The technical name is Koumpounophobia.

Because I'm not a doctor I don't want to pretend I can tell you how to cure this problem. I do know that you can't force it -- you can't make your son change. He has to come to terms with the button phobia himself. So personally I would just take it as a fact of life that he is this way, for now. Don't try to force him to wear them or hold loose ones, just see if he can tolerate them on other people's clothes.

Otherwise, I would think you should speak to your family doctor, who may be able to refer you to an expert in phobias. There are a few support places on the Internet.

Koumpounophobia support forum -- not a lot of traffic, but a start.

Add Comment

Report

I'm Koumpounophobic myself and I can tell you it doesn't go away itself (I'm 34). I don't talk about it much but it seems it's a very common problem. I'll tell you from experience that you should not force him as you may likely make him feel physically ill and he'd likely be very resentful. There seem to be some resources on the internet and I've read about hypnotherapy as being successful. HOWEVER, in order for this therapy to work, you have to want it to work. Depending on the degree of the phobia, he'll likely have a normal and productive life regardless. I may be biased but I say leave the poor kid alone and let him wear t-shirts.

Add Comment

Report