There are a large number of people who are not entirely comfortable with some part of their anatomy. As far as they can, they try to avoid them by applying products, operations or any other remedy that will improve this aspect that they do not like.
Beyond the fact that there are parts of our body that we like more or less, the truth is that there are people who have a rejection of some part of their anatomy, such as scars. Scars are associated with damage or injury. In this sense, we all have at least one scar, which is the navel, whose related phobia is called “omphalophobia”. Continue reading this Psychology-Online article in which we talk about what is omphalophobia, its symptoms, causes and treatment.
Index
- What is omphalophobia
- Symptoms of omphalophobia
- Causes of omphalophobia
- Treatment of omphalophobia
What is omphalophobia.
Omphalophobia refers to excessive and irrational fear that causes us to see or touch our own navel or that of others
Of course, the navel, far from presenting a threat to us, played a fundamental role during pregnancy for our survival. Does your own navel or that of others pose any real danger to us? Not really and therefore experiencing an intense fear response to the belly button would not be adaptive.
Phobias are those disorders in which the person shows an excessive and irrational fear of some situation, object, animal, etc. Therefore omphalophobia, within the main DSM-5 diagnostic classifications (Association Of Psychiatry) and ICD-11 (World Health Organization), would be included in the category from simple phobia.
For the diagnosis of simple phobia, the fear must be irrational and excessive and, in addition, interfere in the daily life of the patient. Omphalophobia has the peculiarity that the phobic stimulus cannot be separated from the patient. This fact could cause continuous exposures to the navel, which would make the development of the phobia itself more complicated.
Symptoms of omphalophobia.
How do I know if I have omphalophobia? The symptoms of simple phobias, following Sosa, C.D. and Capafóns, J.I. (2014)[1] They are grouped into three areas: the physiological, cognitive and motor areas.
- Physiological symptoms: the person will experience tachycardia, increased blood pressure, sweating, nausea or diarrhea, etc. due to the presence or touch of the navel. These symptoms could also appear without the need to expose the patient to the feared stimulus (the navel), we refer to situations of anticipation or imagination of the phobic stimulus.
- Cognitive symptoms: the person would present negative beliefs regarding the presence or interaction with his navel and his own coping capacity. For example, you might think that touching it "could reopen the wound" or "could cause health problems."
- Motor symptoms: the person would try to avoid looking at the navel (live or through the mirror) and touching it. In case of not being able to avoid it, the person would resist this situation with great discomfort.
Causes of omphalophobia.
The development and maintenance of specific phobias has been tried to explain using different theories, such as theories cognitive-behavioral, biological theories or integrative theories (which assume the participation of biological, psychological and social factors in your explanation).
Cognitive-behavioral theories
The cognitive behavioral theory establishes that the appearance of a phobia occurs as a consequence of the association of the umbilicus with aversive stimuli (such as pain, unpleasant body sensations, etc.), that is, it is acquired through classical conditioning. The phobia, once acquired, is maintained by operant conditioning. That is, exposure to the navel is avoided both visually and tactilely and this reinforces avoidance behavior.
In a cognitive dimension, the person could present irrational thoughts or beliefs related to the phobic stimulus, as we have presented in the previous section.
The vicarious conditioning it could also explain the emergence of phobias. This conditioning consists of the development of omphalophobia by observing this fear in other people.
Biological theories
Biological theories propose the existence, on the one hand, of an evolutionary predisposition and, on the other, a genetic predisposition.
- The evolutionary predisposition assumes that it is more common to develop phobias before stimuli that have been potentially dangerous throughout evolution.
- Studies with families also show the existence of a certain genetic predisposition for the development of phobias.
Treatment of omphalophobia.
How is omphalophobia cured? Treatment for specific phobias includes cognitive-behavioral techniques and these can be accompanied by pharmacological treatment.
Cognitive-behavioral techniques
First, exposure technique It is the one indicated in these cases. Prolonged exposure to the navel (in both visual and tactile modes) will decrease the anxiety response. Exposure may be gradual if the case requires it.
The exposure technique will be accompanied by previously learned relaxation techniques that will be useful when exposing the patient to the feared stimulus.
On the other hand, the evaluation of the case will show the existence or not of irrational beliefs and ideas regarding the feared stimulus, in this case the navel. If these are present, they must be treated using cognitive techniques.
Pharmacotherapy
Pharmacological treatment is based on the use of anxiolytic drugs. Its administration should be avoided during the application of the exposure technique.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Omphalophobia: what is it, symptoms, causes and treatment, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.
References
- Sosa, C.D. and Capafóns, J.I. (2014) Specific phobia. In Caballo, V.E., Salazar, I.C. And Carrobles, J.A. (2014) Manual of Psychopathology and Psychological Disorders. Madrid. Pyramid.
Bibliography
- American Psychiatric Association (2014). DSM-5. Reference guide to the diagnostic criteria of the DSM-5-Breviary. Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana.
- World Health Organization (WHO) (2018) International Classification of Diseases, 11th revision. Recovered from https://icd.who.int/es
