Last Updated on February 21, 2023 by Mike Robinson

What is Podophobia?

Podophobia is an irrational fear of feet that can make a person feel disgusted, rejected, or repulsed. Podophobes can feel rejected just as much by other people’s feet as by their own. These feet can be clean and manicured or full of fungus. They are appalled by feet of all kinds.

This condition can cause a person with podophobia to avoid touching their own feet out of fear or disgust. This can lead to fungus, infections, or other problems. This disorder hurts their relationships with other people because those who don’t have the condition find it hard to understand.

This is a generalized phobia always present in the person’s life. The person can avoid it by wearing stockings, even when showering. They can also avoid public places like beaches, where no one wears shoes. 

Symptoms of Podophobia

Like all phobias, podophobia causes an intense, excessive, and irrational fear. This fear arises when one is around or thinks about human feet. However, this is not the only way people with this phobia experience it.

 However, it is more typical for the affected person to experience intense rejection, repulsion, or disgust upon seeing anyone’s feet.

 The person must also recognize that their fear makes no sense. Almost everyone feels rejection or disgust when they see ugly, deformed, or sick feet. But the podophobic feels rejection even when their feet are healthy and clean, and the repulsion is stronger when feet are in bad shape.

People with podophobia may also feel disgusted when others touch or look at their feet. Some physical signs are trouble breathing, a fast heartbeat, sweating, tremors, feeling sick, and dizziness. Sometimes, the person may think of their feet when thinking of death or dying.

 Podophobia can coexist with other types of social anxiety, and people with it may avoid social situations. Therefore, social gatherings may cause severe anxiety or even panic attacks.

 Children do not often experience this phobia, but when they do, they typically exhibit crying, vomiting, and extreme frustration. Podophobia must have been present for six months to be diagnosed in children under 18, just like other phobias. In addition to the possibility of developing foot diseases due to the lack of care, they receive, the table already described on podophobia causes the subject to feel extreme discomfort that is clinically significant and lowers the quality of their life, their relationships, and their social responsibilities.

Causes of Podophobia

Although there is little research on phobias as specific as podophobia, its causes are likely the same as those of other phobias. According to some studies, there may be genetic markers for phobia, but this information is not yet conclusive. More importantly, they support psychological causes.

 It is common for podophobia to start when a person reads about foot diseases. This helps him make better medical decisions but also gives him irrational fears that worsen as he reads. It could also be because he has or has had a disease in his feet that makes them look funny, hurts, or changes how his skin looks or smells.

 On the other hand, it is less likely to result from a traumatic event unless it is a displaced cause that is hard to connect to the picture because of how it looks. A related traumatic event would be an adult remembering being kicked repeatedly by a family member or caregiver.

On the other hand, it is more likely that the phobia was learned or imitated by someone in the home or family who had podophobia or a similar phobia, such as bromidrophobia (fear of body odors) or dermatophobia (fear of skin rashes or skin diseases).

 Another reason could be that the person had social anxiety in the past and that some or all of that anxiety came from being rejected by their feet. This past rejection would be an excuse not to leave the house and deal with the bigger fear. You must examine the patient’s life story and how his fears fit into it to prove this.

 Lifecycle of Podophobia 

We don’t know much about how long this phobia lasts, but it is less likely to start when a person is young. Because it began when he was young, which is unusual, we would expect that his prognosis was less than favorable and that he would need therapy to get better. If not, it could last until they are adults.

 Most likely, podophobia starts when a person is in their teens or early 20s. This may have something to do with the sexual awakening during this critical time. Also, the foot is a public part of the body with a personal, sexual quality.

 As with most body phobias, it primarily affects women, but both men and women have the same experience. It can improve when it starts in adolescence if you take the proper steps quickly. An intervention is less helpful when a person is an adult, especially if it lasts for a long time.

If the person finds a way to work around their fear, it can make it worse in the future. For example, you might find a partner who understands your fear and always wears shoes.

Phobia Comparisons

Now, we’ll take a quick look at some phobias similar to podophobia and, because of that, can confuse both people with podophobia and those who must diagnose it. This is true, but sometimes people can simultaneously have more than one phobia.

•  Dermatophobia is the fear of skin diseases or the skin itself. Although a person with podophobia usually fears the skin of the feet and their diseases, the phobia only applies to the skin of the foot.
• Bromidrophobia, the fear of body odors or smelling bad, can focus on foot odors but also include other body odors. Podophobics may be repulsed by their feet smells, but different body scents don’t bother them.
• Handphobia is irrational. It is similar to podophobia, but it fears hands instead of feet. They’ll also wear gloves and avoid washing their hands in these situations.
• Aigialofobia is the fear of beaches and bathing, while ablutophobia is the fear of bathing, washing, or cleaning. People with podophobia avoid washing their feet or going to the beach because they fear seeing their feet or others.
• Sexphobia—the irrational fear of sex, penetration, orgasm, or other sexual contacts—may be involved. To avoid showing his feet or seeing others, a podophobe may avoid sexual contact.
• Hafephobia—an excessive fear of touching others or being touched—falls into this category. However, this fear rarely involves a specific body part or being touched by the opposite sex. Hafephobics fear being touched, not just their feet.

 From the list above, it’s clear that there are many fears similar to podophobia. And there were still more that we left out. In general, a fear of disease or a fear of the body will have some things in common. It is important that the patient carefully describes his symptoms so that the doctor can tell them apart.

Treatment of Podophobia

Podophobia, like other phobias, must be treated. Anti-anxiety medication can be helpful, but patients should only use it after or in conjunction with psychotherapy.  The patient should get pedicures regularly to maintain their feet’s health and appearance and to get used to seeing and caring for them. The subject may rationalize their condition after this event.

 Hypnotherapy, which helps identify the phobia’s cause, is also recommended. It also helps the person understand the feared stimulus by exposing them to it in a less hostile setting.

 Systematic desensitization reduces anxiety symptoms quickly in psychotherapy. However, you can use a cognitive model to understand the phobia’s faulty thoughts.

 Also read Agliophobia (fear of pain): Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments.

Conclusion

Although phobias are irrational, changes in thought patterns are possible. Thus, if you have a phobia affecting your life or routines, you should seek professional help.