Omphalophobia
I suffer from omphalophobia.
I didn’t think to look it up before now and not only does my fear of belly buttons have a name, there are others out there that feel exactly the same way as I do.
I can look at mine or someone else’s belly button, but I can’t touch mine, can’t stand having mine touched by someone else and I can’t stand someone else touching their own.
Piercings etc are fine, as long as they’re not being played with.
It seems to be a little rare but others suffer from it too, and they describe exactly the same thing I do.
Here’s a definition:
Omphalophobia is a specific phobia, an abnormal fear of belly buttons. It is a fairly rare phobia. People with this phobia become distressed when anyone’s navel area is subjected to touch, especially their own.
I saw this on yahoo or wiki answers, while it wasn’t an answer, the description is pretty close to mine:
What is the fear of belly buttons called?
I have a friend who hates belly buttons. She can look at a belly button and be fine, but if you touch it.. she can’t even look and she turns pail white. She says she feels completely nauseous and it just freaks her out. She can’t even touch her own belly button..
There’s even a Facebook group for us. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20412580864 same description as what I feel too:
Category: Common Interest – Self-help
Description: Omphalophobia is a specific phobia, an abnormal fear of the navel or belly button.
A group for those that have an abnormal fear of the navel, touching one’s own navel, touching someone else’s navel, seeing people touch a navel, or hearing someone talk about it.
This seems to be a rare fear to have… a quick Google search indicates there are others out there with this phobia, but not in very large numbers. I have never actually met anyone else that has it.
There may well be many different forms of Omphalophobia, but I am not personally afraid to see a belly button at all. It’s only when someone touches theirs that really bothers me, or even worse tries to touch mine. I also don’t like it when someone talks about touching one.
Honestly, I wish I didn’t even have a belly button
16 Comments to Omphalophobia
Leave a comment
Welcome to my blog
This is a few months old i see now, but i read this and related completely. I freak out when people touch my belly button and when people found out (I’m in high school) I didn’t think anyone else had it, but now I’m relieved.
Worrrd ive had this for yearrrsssss but also just found out that THERES ACTUALLY A NAME FOR IT!! For some people this is really a scary serious thing but for the most part seems pretty mild. I cannot stand to have mine touched it freaks me out and really pisses me off! Same thing with you I can look at others and my own without too much trouble or thinking about it but i dont touch mine i dont let others touch mine or even get close it, and i hate watching people touch theres. i get a terrible sinking feeling in my stomach and a strong ache on the inside of where my bellybutton is even just writing this. I wish someone would further look into the psychological aspects of this and where it might stem from. everything ive looked at has been very uninformative. as its not a disabilitating problem of my life it still stresses me out.
I have your phobia exactly, I can look at belly buttons but can’t standing touching (or the thought of) mine or anyone else’s or having mine touched. Mucking about in bed prompted my search, I accidentally put my finger in my husbands belly button, my reaction was to scream, freak out and run to the bathroom. He got angry at me for screaming over nothing, until we did a bit of research and found it’s actually a phobia.
Thanks for sharing!!
I know this thread is really old by now but I am totaly amaized that now i have a name to my phobia. i just thought i was traumatized by a story my mom told me when i was very young about a person having their guts come out of their belly button. my sister and cousin heard the story as well and we all al terrified of our belly buttons. we can see them but cant stand people touching them. and definatly cant touch our own. i have dreams of my bellybutton unwraveling if i touch it and from there i dont know what would happen. i thought i was crazy for feeling that way about bellybuttons. my mom thought we were just playing around when we told her that we were scared of it. i desided to google fear of belly buttons after spending many sleepless nights becasue of the thought of something going in my bellybuton. wow! im happy im not the only one and definatly happy im not crazy hahaha thanx
Hi,
I don’t know what your beliefs on hypnosis are (most people tend not to believe it exists or are highly sceptical), however I can personally recommend the following site as they helped me to cure my nail-biting and a few other things.
They have a “suggest a download” competition and I highly recommend you submit your particular phobia (which I personally share to a much lesser extent). If you suggest it and they make it you will get a free copy, so you have nothing to lose.
http://www.hypnosisdownloads.com/newsletter/mp3-comp?utm_source=hd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=im_69_2011
On the nail-biting (I know this is off topic), it took me 3 sessions (~30 mins each) to sort it out. I had tried going cold turkey and failed very quickly. I listened to the MP3 before bed; the day after my first session I only caught myself biting my nails twice, I had another session that night and the next day I only caught myself biting my nails once. I had a third session and since then I have not bitten my nails once – the last time I bit them was on the 31st Aug 2010
Anyway, I’m sure they will be able to help you and many others like you.
so ive read what youve blogged and i also suffer this phobia. just writing this comment now is making me feel sick! i wish i didnt have this stupid phobia as sometimes i cant sleep at night due to it as i can feel my top touching my belly button, it really freaks me out. i wish i could get rid of this phobia. so one time i bigged my self up and was like right im going clean my bellybutton out,then i was like shit, i cant use cotton wool as i also have a phobia of that, so i thought toilet roll, but i also have a phobia of that touching my nails, i soaked it in water to prevent it from squeeking on my nails ;D then went in for the kill (cleaning the belly button) i got it in, but omg, i wish i never did, it felt minging! urgh! i started crying! it took me 2 hours to clean it out, and after all that, it was still dorty……
My friend at school is afraid of his belly button and me and my buddies poke him all the time. Its funny to watch him squirm and hit himself. He freaks out even if we point at it. Whenever we go to high five him or point a something near him, he shrivels up and sometimes falls on the floor. We always tell him horrible things that could happen to his belly button like peanut butter or cement in it.
My husband has this phobia it’s that bad for him that he couldn’t cut our babies cords when the were born. He can’t look at belly button especially if it is a belly button that pokes out. You can’t go anywhere near his.
Feels good to see that Im not alone in that case…But mine got worse that juste a simple touching phobia…I cant even bare my clothes (pantss) to touch me in THE AREA of my belly button…Even If i push my pants more and more down I still feel like its right in the middle of my belly button…Drives me CRAZY! vAnyine like me?
I have the exact same symptoms as you. I’ve never told anyone about it because I thought there was something wrong with me! But when I finally searched it up and found this I was so relieved! You gave me the confidence to speak out about it and it turns out one of me best friends have the exact same condition! We laugh about it now, our other friends tease us about it but it’s all friendly banter and we can face them together. Thankyou
So happy I finally looked this up, as it hadn’t occurred to me to do so before. I also have a fear of belly buttons. I can’t touch mine, let others even close to touching mine, or see others touching their own…gross. Even talking or thinking about it makes me squirm and I feel sick. Everyone I confide in about this look at me like I’m crazy. My sisters used to chase me to try to poke me in the belly button when I was young, and I would become hysterical. Even my parents at times thought I was just pretending, so I am glad to see there are others out there with this same fear!
Hey! Nice to found another Omphalophobic person like me out there! Sadly I never met one in real life :/ !
I really relate to what you said (except that piercings aren’t really okay for me :p) ! And I don’t like seeing out-side belly buttons ^^ !
I have this!!!!! It freaks me out and I HATE it when people touch my belly button or they touch their own. I can touch my own with no problem though. I can look at others, but not outies. Just think about them makes me shaky and feel sick. Piercings are also really nasty.
My girlfriend has a similar situation. I didn’t think she was serious when she said she couldn’t bear someone touching her belly button nor see someone touching their belly button. I was ignorant to the point where I told her she should let me touch her belly button or else I’d think she doesn’t love me anymore. I saw her squirmed when I began teasing her and she was teary eyed after. I feel terrible now. Thank you for your great input. What a jerk I was.
i’ve had this phobia ever since i can remember,my belly button was sticking out when i was little and i used to touch it alot but my mom told me to stop touching it i was like two then but well till this day i can’t touch it or stand seeing any1 touching theirs or seeing a belly button sticking out it seems pretty lame but i just can’t look at it and i panic when some1 tries to touch mine so it really freaks me out,i know people who read this will be like wtf but imagine some1 setting u on fire this is how it is for me it really freaks me out and i’m glad that it has a name so i’m not alone with this weird fear.
I’m from Brazil and I have this phobia. Having it since forever, over time I managed to “control” it.
- My belly button used to be very dirty, because I never cleaned it directly. One day I had to take a surgery that involved general anesthesia (for other reasons) and I had an idea: I asked the doctor’s team to clean my belly button while I was “sleeping”. After this successful experience, for some unknown reason, I can now clean my own belly button directly, with the help of almond oil and towel.
- Some “friends” (usually cousins) who learned about my phobia used to “bully” me playing with their own belly buttons in front of me . One day I got really angry with this (a cousin was playing with a knife, using it to touch his own belly button), and after this emotional experience I stopped feeling disconfort when others touch their belly buttons in front of me.
- But I still can’t let others touch my belly button when I’m not under general anesthesia.
Just my 2 cents, hope it helps.