Usually, people who have trypophobia are afraid of clustered holes in skin, meat, wood, plants, coral, sponges, mould, dried seed pods and honeycomb. These can make them feel that their skin is crawling, shudder, feel itchy and physically sick when seeing these images because they really find it disgusting and gross. Some of these people think that something might be living inside those holes and some of them are afraid that they might fall in these holes. This phobia makes them upset and it can trigger a panic attack that will give them an unpleasant and uncomfortable feeling like trembling, perspiration, shortness of breath, shaking, palpitations, dizziness and nausea.
Although the website also says, “Trypophobia is not a real phobia. Look at the official list of phobias, and this is not even on there. This is a word 4chan made up back in the day that ended up spreading to various parts of the web. It is however a very real and natural reaction.”
On the Facebook group, people share things that set them off. One woman asks: “Does anyone else have a problem with patterns caused by iron filings? Also those things which are made up of loads of pins, and you can press your face/hand into them to make a shape? *shudder*” Another says: “One coping technique that works for me: whenever I have the opportunity, I squash/destroy the pattern. I smashed underfoot some puffballs growing out of the lawn today, which was quite cathartic.”
But why are these people afraid of holes and clusters? Well, some element of phobias are irrational—brains seizing upon things they shouldn’t. But the researchers, Geoff Cole and Arnold Wilkins from the University of Essex, had one interaction with a man with trypophobia that led them to think that those who fear holes associate them with grave danger. Joe Palca at NPR explains:
But why would that particular characteristic make people’s skin crawl? The answer came to Cole one day when he was visited by a man who said he suffered from trypophobia. In the course of their conversation, the man revealed he had a phobic reaction every time he looked at a blue-ringed octopus.
Not knowing anything about blue-ringed octopuses, Cole called up some Web images while his visitor was there. One thing Cole learned from his search was that blue-ringed octopuses are extremely venomous.
When Cole looked up lots of other venomous animals, he found that many of them had spots and hole like patterns. In their paper, he and his colleagues write, “We argue that although sufferers are not conscious of the association, the phobia arises in part because the inducing stimuli share basic visual characteristics with dangerous organisms, characteristics that are low level and easily computed, and therefore facilitate a rapid nonconscious response.”
So while a pile of metal shavings, a hole in the ground or a clump of coral isn’t going to kill you, your brain doesn’t necessarily know that. These people should probably never move to Florida, where sinkholes do swallow people and buildings whole.
Rose Eveleth was a writer for Smart News and a producer/designer/ science writer/ animator based in Brooklyn. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Scientific American, Story Collider, TED-Ed and OnEarth.
Trypophobia is an irrational fear or aversion to clusters of small holes, bumps, or patterns. Common triggers include natural patterns, human and animal skin, and man-made objects. Symptoms include physical reactions like sweating and trembling and emotional responses like anxiety and disgust.
Trypophobia (trip-uh-FOE-bee-uh) is an aversion or repulsion to objects like honeycombs and sponges that have repetitive patterns or clusters of small holes. People with trypophobia are disgusted by the pattern of holes. They don't necessarily have a fear of holes.
Cole and Wilkins also stated that the level of disgust with trypophobia increases if the holes are on human skin. Writing in Popular Science, Jennifer Abbasi argues that emotional contagion within such social media groups may be responsible for some of the aversive reactions to such images.
What Causes Trypophobia? Phobias don't have a specific cause. Instead, they can result from any number or combination of complex factors, including genetics, prior trauma, learned responses early in life, and long-term anxiety or depression.
Trypophobia is an aversion; it is the feeling of disgust or fear. However, there is a difference between discomfort and phobia. Discomfort is a mild feeling of unease and annoyance in response to certain stimuli or situations. It's typically temporary and doesn't significantly impact your daily functioning.
Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth. Arachibutyrophobia is a rare phobia that involves a fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth.
Trypophobia, a relatively new term, is the fear of clustered holes, bumps, or nodules. However, trypophobia skin is not a real skin disease, nor is trypophobia a diagnosable mental disorder. Trypophobia is the fear of clustered holes, bumps, or nodules.
However, there is some scepticism surrounding the phenomenon. It is often stated that the condition is not recognised by the American Psychiatric Association, and not listed as a phobia in the DSM-5. It has also been claimed that trypophobia is no more than a particularly successful internet meme.
Around 10 to 15 percent of people find these images uncomfortable to look at, said Nate Pipitone, an associate professor of psychology at Florida Gulf Coast University, who has been studying trypophobia for several years. The images can cause feelings of repulsion and disgust as well as itching and nausea.
If you have trypophobia, looking at objects covered in holes can stir up waves of discomfort. You might start to shake; feel like crying (or actually cry); suddenly become itchy or nauseated; feel short of breath, panicky, or sweaty; or experience a racing heart.
Kevin Chapman, a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder and director of The Kentucky Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, says up to to 19% of people struggle with a phobia. Less than roughly 2%, he estimates, have trypophobia, which is rare.
Symptoms of trypophobia typically meet DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for specific phobias rather than other conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, researchers have found that people with trypophobia were more likely to experience other conditions, too. 8 These include: Depression.
Based on the potential causes of trypophobia, it's possible your aversion could begin after an encounter with a venomous snake, exposure to a contagious skin condition, or another trypophobia trigger.
It is known that for people with trypophobia, seeing clusters of holes on various objects can cause intensely disturbing internal organ reactions4. Also, individuals with trypophobia may experience severe fear, nausea, itching, sweating, tremors, and even panic attacks when they see such objects5.
One such trypophobia test is the Implicit Trypophobia Measure, which asks people to rate their reactions to trypophobic images. Another approach involves evaluating the symptoms and reactions individuals have when exposed to trypophobic triggers, such as clusters of small holes or patterns.
Scientific evidence has yet to pinpoint a clear cause of trypophobia, but there are a few potential explanations. Some experts theorize this fear of closely-packed holes may develop as an extension of a biological fear of venomous or otherwise dangerous creatures.
Trypophobia has been described as a phobia to images with high-contrast energy at low and midrange spatial frequencies, such as holes and repetitive patterns, and two theories, both evolutionary, have been posed: trypophobia could be a product of evolution, an aversion to poisonous animals that possess high-contrast ...
Scopophobia is excessive fear of being stared at. It is often associated with other society anxieties. During an episode of scopophobia, you may feel your face flush or your heart race. You might begin sweating or shaking.
Fear of being in the darkness (nyctophobia) is sometimes called scotophobia or lygophobia. Nyctophobia itself is derived from the Greek word for night. As its name implies, those experiencing nyctophobia are afraid of the dark. It's a widespread phobia, especially in children.
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