What is Trypophobia?

Trypophobia, or “phobia of holes,” is the extreme fear or repulsion caused by any pattern of geometric figures closely together, tiny holes. However, they can also be small rectangles or convex circles.

It is a phobia quite common in humans, although little is known. Although trypophobia does not appear in the Manual of Diagnosis of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association, thousands claim to feel repulsion and symptoms of anxiety when observing patterns of small, agglomerated holes.

Do you see a beehive and feel repulsion? Does look at any object with many small holes make you nauseous? It is about a perhaps extreme form of trypophobia, a common phobia that occurs in humans and generates emotions such as disgust, fear, and sometimes, panic.

Trypophobia is not a disease, although if it interferes with well-being and leads to a normal life, it is advisable to go to a professional to evaluate and treat it. Some objects that can cause this sensation are corals, bee panels, soap bubbles, a polka dot outfit, a handful of stacked logs, or a tablet of aerated chocolate.

Causes of Trypophobia

Most phobias result from traumatic experiences or being around someone with a phobia when you were young. However, this would not be the case with trypophobia, according to research by the University of Essex, whose results are in Psychological Science.

According to Geoff Cole, an expert researcher in the vision sciences, the visual patterns that trigger the symptoms in people with trypophobia are similar to those in various poisonous animals. Some of the deadliest animals in the world, such as the blue-ringed octopus, the king cobra, certain scorpions, and various spiders, have patterned spots on their surfaces.

Trypophobia may have a simple evolutionary explanation: people who feel repulsed when observing these patterns move away from dangerous animals, which helps them survive.

In this way, it is not strange that even today, many people present symptoms of anxiety when observing patterns of spots or holes that resemble those seen in the most poisonous animals in the world. It would be reminiscent of a fear that once helped many humans survive.

Common Symptoms of Trypophobia

To have a positive case of trypophobia, you must meet the following criteria:

The fear must be persistent, excessive, and irrational, and the presence or anticipation of the stimulus, in this case, observing a specific geometric pattern, must trigger it.
Exposure to the stimulus should invariably provoke a response of intense anxiety or a crisis of anguish.
Avoid situations that cause these symptoms or barely bear them with intense discomfort or anxiety.
These avoidance behaviors and anxiety symptoms (which appear even when you only think of a honeycomb) interfere with your daily life: in your work, your studies, your social life, and your normal routine.

Suppose you identify with the situations described above. In that case, your trypophobia is an actual phobia, and it would be a good idea to seek help so that the symptoms no longer interfere with your life.

Scientific Facts about Trypophobia

In many forums on the internet, thousands of people who have self-diagnosed trypophobia share their experiences. Medicine has not yet admitted trypophobia as a disease; it does not appear in the dictionary, and until recently, it was not in Wikipedia.

However, scientists Arnold Wilkins and Geoff Cole of the University of Essex decided to investigate more about this phobia and carried out several experiments.

In one of them, they showed a series of images to 286 people chosen at random. The images alternated between the holes of cheese and a panel of seeds from a lotus full of holes, with diverse natural landscapes. The participants had to indicate if the images caused them any discomfort.

Around 16% of the people surveyed said they felt disgusted when looking at images with holes or geometric patterns. In comparison, the remaining 84% said they felt nothing special when looking at any of the images.

Wilkins and Cole analyzed the characteristics of the images that did cause unpleasant sensations. They found something in common: the spectral analysis of the lipophobic images showed high contrast energy in the mid-range spatial frequencies, which makes them striking when looking at them.

It is not yet known why these images cause unpleasant sensations in certain people but not in others, but what scientists are sure of is that tropophobia does not have a cultural origin, such as triskaidekaphobia, for example.

Origins of Trypophobia

And in most cases, trypophobia does not have a traumatic origin either. Researchers believe that the human organism may have used these triggers to get away from certain poisonous animals, which have patterns on their skin with characteristics similar to the images in the study of trypophobia.

Some people’s triggers continue to work, so they feel anxiety and adrenaline invading their bloodstream when they observe certain patterns. However, there is also another theory about the origin of trypophobia. Some think it is only a collective manifestation of disgust before certain images.

The aversion to holes in organic material could easily be explained because they are images frequently associated with diseases, says Martin Antony, a professor of psychology at Ryerson University in Toronto and author of the book, The Control of Anxiety.

Is Trypophobia an Actual Phobia?

Some people think that trypophobia is a mere psychological curiosity. There could be as many phobias as people because people can fear anything. But the question is whether trypophobia can cause symptoms so intense as to interfere with the person’s daily life. If this were the case, it would be a real problem.

Many people say they have intense symptoms when observing images with geometric patterns, among them nausea, vomiting, dizziness, cold sweat, and tachycardia.

Best Treatments for Fear of Holes

Like all phobias, there are several possible treatments, including various psychological therapies and some medications:

Exposure therapy

In this treatment, the therapist will expose you little by little to the stimulus that causes your symptoms, helping you control your anxiety through different tools. The gradual and repeated exposure over time will make you feel less anxious each time you see patterns of small holes.

Cognitive behavioral therapy involves the change of thoughts and behaviors. It also involves gradual exposure to the stimulus and other techniques that will help you deal with situations that cause anxiety in different ways. They will also change your beliefs about your phobia and its impact on your life.

Medicines

A psychiatrist must prescribe the appropriate medicines. For treating some phobias, antidepressants, tranquilizers, or beta-blockers are prescribed. Beta-blockers are drugs that neutralize the effects of adrenaline in the body. They lower the heart rate, lower blood pressure, and reduce tremors.

The antidepressants that are usually prescribed for cases of severe phobias are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. It is possible that the doctor also prescribes another type of antidepressant for the control of the symptoms, depending on each case.

Finally, a tranquilizing medication called benzodiazepines can help control anxiety in people suffering from various phobias. Patients should use them cautiously because they can have adverse side effects.

In most cases, the medication is used when the symptoms of the phobia are uncontrollable and interfere with the person’s daily life, preventing them from carrying out their normal activities.

Psychological therapies are the best option in other cases, as are any other methods that help control anxiety. These methods include yoga or meditation.

Conclusion

So if you also have this phobia, you are not the only one, and most people manage to control their symptoms so that you can do it too. If you can not control your anxiety, do not hesitate to consult a professional.

Also read: How to Control Anxiety Naturally in 10 Steps