Rare button phobia leaves student only able to wear zipped clothing

Student Hannah Matthews has one of the most bizarre phobias known. Her condition, koumpounophobia, means she panics in their presence and can only wear clothes with zips.
‘Something about the texture and shape really freaks me out,’ said the 21-year-old Portsmouth university student. 'My mum says I would freak out when it was time to get ready for school. I would scream, cry and as I got older I started to have panic attacks when faced with the prospect of touching them and getting ready.

'Ever since then even the word button makes me squirm.' She added: 'It really used to affect my chances in job interviews, but I know more about self-control techniques now, so if someone is wearing buttons I try really hard to control my reaction.

'It still makes me feel uncomfortable but I can now distract myself if it’s just on someone’s shirt, however if it starts coming towards me or the word is mentioned in conversation I still panic.' Late Apple boss Steve Jobs had the same phobia and only wore button-free turtle necks and denim.