My mother had a button box too, passed down by my great-grandmother. I
don't think I ever played with it, athough I do recount the smell of
it. It was almost fecal-like now I think back to it.

I have been trying to do some reserch on the web about button
phobia--but there is no literature on it, only forums such as this
one. I even typed in 'circle-phobias' and 'spherophobia' (fear of
circles) and got nothing, so I don't know what to do next. Any ideas
anyone?

I would love to reserch this subject.

No other members in my family suffer from it.

I am prone to thinking that perhaps somebody said or did something
upsetting to me and they happened to be wearing an item of clothing
with buttons on. I linked the disgust with buttons, as they are
harmless pieces of plastic. Children often do this automatically, as a
mode of protection. People can hurt you, buttons cannot.

Beyond this, I have no idea.

Walking through clothing stores yesterday, I was taken aback at the
quantity of clothing with buttons on--buttons on shirt sleeves,
buttons on the pockets of pants, buttons just for the sake of
buttons...

Do any of you guys ever find yourselves getting angry with people? I
mean, who the Hell would want to wear buttons? Don't you just want to
go up to people and give 'em a stern talking to?

(If they can call us weird, then we are entitled to have OUR say too.)

As a child, I would go up to complete strangers and ask them why they
were wearing buttons, as I couldn't understand why somebody would want
to wear them!!

I still can't!

By the way, do any British sufferers remember Parkas?