Omphalophobia (fear of navels): causes and symptoms

Like any other specific phobia, it has an irrational component.

Have you ever heard of omphalophobia? It is the irrational and disproportionate fear of touching or seeing belly buttons.. It is a very rare and uncommon specific phobia.

This fear can be extrapolated to one's own navel or that of others. In this article we will know the symptoms of omphalophobia, its causes and possible treatments.

• We recommend you to read: "The 15 rarest phobias that exist".

Omphalophobia: navel phobia

Omphalophobia is a specific phobia, which is diagnosed as such when there is a real deterioration in the patient's life (or significant discomfort). As mentioned above, there is always an intense fear of seeing or touching navels (one's own or others').

Specific phobias are anxiety disorders, considered as such in the different diagnostic manuals (DSM-5). So omphalophobia is an anxiety disorder.

Navels

Navel is a word that comes from the Latin "umbiculus" and the Greek "omphalos". The navel consists of a scar that remains on our belly after the umbilical cord breaks when we are born. This scar involves a depression in the skin, like a kind of rounded "hole".

There are many types of belly buttons, in terms of shape, size, etc. The vast majority of people have a belly button.

Symptoms

The symptoms of omphalophobia are the symptoms of any other simple phobia.. Let us remember that these are mainly the following.

1. Disproportionate and irrational fear

The main symptom of omphalophobia is an intense, disproportionate and irrational fear of the navel.. This extends to the possibility of touching them, seeing them, etc., either one's own navel or the navel of another person.

This fear is intense because it is high, disproportionate because its intensity is too high considering the stimulus that elicits this response (navels, which are harmless and cannot cause any harm), and irrational because it does not respond to a logical reaction to this stimulus.

2. Avoidance

The second symptom of omphalophobia is avoidance; that is, the person with this phobia avoids seeing or touching navels at all costs. In the event that he/she must necessarily see or touch one, he/she resists such a situation with high anxiety.

Thus, these people may resist going to places where people go shirtless (e.g. beaches, swimming pools, etc.). (e.g. beaches, swimming pools, etc.).

3. Interference

The third symptom of omphalophobia, and of any specific phobia, is interference in daily life. In other words, the above symptoms interfere with the patient's daily life, causing significant discomfort or impairment in functioning.

This translates into: difficulties in going to places where people go shirtless, or places where the individual must remain shirtless, etc.or places where the individual has to go shirtless, etc. In other words, the functioning of the patient's life is altered.

4. It lasts at least 6 months

The symptoms of omphalophobia last at least 6 months. This criterion, like the previous ones, corresponds to the DSM-5 (Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders).

Causes

The causes of specific phobias can be of different types. In the specific case of omphalophobia, we can find causes such as the following.

Traumatic situations

The fact of having experienced a traumatic situation related to a belly button can lead to the appearance of omphalophobia. An example of this may be having suffered a navel infection (omphalitis), having suffered intense navel Pain due to some other cause, having injured the navel, etc.

2. Vicarious conditioning

Vicarious conditioning is another possible cause of specific phobias; it refers to a type of learning where the person observes what consequences a specific behavior has for another person (generally these being negative consequences).

In the case of omphalophobia, it may be that the sufferer has observed how other people suffered from a condition related to the navel.. For example, an infection, an injury, navel pain. It also includes the fact of having seen damaged or deformed navels, etc.

Vicarious conditioning can occur "live" (seeing other people) or "symbolically" (through movies, for example).

3. Predisposition to anxiety

Another possible cause of omphalophobia is a predisposition or vulnerability (genetic and biological) to suffer from anxiety disorders. predisposition or vulnerability (genetic and biological) to suffer from anxiety disorders.. This vulnerability has been observed in some people, and has been proven in different studies.

4. Family pattern

We can also speak of family patterns in the case of omphalophobia; it is a fact that the risk of suffering from a specific phobia increases if there are members of our family who also suffer from it.

That is to say, in a certain way, phobias can also be "inherited", either by genetics or by the fact of having heard negative ideas about navels from family members.by family members.

Treatment

There are different treatments for specific phobias, as well as for omphalophobia in particular. The main ones are the following.

1. Exposure therapy

Exposure therapy involves progressively exposing the patient to the situation of seeing and touching navels. This is done through a hierarchy, i.e., the first items on the list will be stimuli that cause less anxiety intensity, and as the list progresses the items will cause more anxiety.

The patient will be exposed to these items, which will be situations related to seeing or touching a navel. For example, the first item on the list may be to remain "X" minutes watching shirtless people from a distance. The second, seeing those same people a little closer. The third, getting close to a belly button, etc., and at the end of the list, situations involving touching a belly button.

2. Cognitive therapy

Cognitive therapy is a type of psychological therapy that includes cognitive restructuring as its main technique. This will be based, in the case of omphalophobia, on teaching the patient to identify his dysfunctional and irrational thoughts related to his phobia (i.e. navels).

After the identification of these thoughts (also called cognitive distortions), the patient will be taught to look for alternative thoughts to them, being more realistic and adjusted to reality and to the "non-dangerousness" of the navels.

The objective is that these thoughts related to the navels disappear and are replaced by more positive, realistic and adaptive thoughts.

3. Pharmacology

Drugs have also been used in cases of specific phobias (mainly anxiolytics and antianxiety drugs). (mainly anxiolytics and antidepressants), although it is true that pharmacological treatment should always be punctual and/or temporary, and as an adjuvant or complementary to psychological treatment.

That is, psychotropic drugs can be used to "calm" the patient's anxiety so that work can begin with the patient through psychotherapy.

The reality is that if the underlying problem (the irrational thoughts associated with the phobia, the intense fear of exposure, etc.) is not treated, drugs will have very limited action in this disorder (or in any other specific phobia).

Bibliographical references:

• American Psychiatric Association -APA- (2014). DSM-5. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Madrid: Panamericana.

• Belloch, A., Sandín, B. and Ramos, F. (2010). Manual de Psicopatología. Volume I and II. Madrid: McGraw-Hill.

• Pérez, M., Fernández, J.R., Fernándes, C. and Amigo, I. (2010). Guide to effective psychological treatments I and II:. Madrid: Pirámide.

• International Anatomical Terminology. "Navel." (2001). P. 4. Editorial Médica Panamericana.