Trypophobia: why people are afraid of small holes
Miscellaneous / / June 11, 2023
Dislike for porous surfaces appeared for a reason - it is laid down in us by evolution.
Look at the picture below. This is the fruit of the nut-bearing lotus, containing its seeds. You may not notice anything interesting - a plant and a plant. Some might even find it funny or cute.
But if you suddenly felt fear, disgust, disgust, know: you have trypophobia.
What is trypophobia
Word is going on from the Greek "tripa" (τρύπα) - "hole" or "drilling" and "phobos" (φόβος) - "horror". That is, it is a fear of the accumulation of holes or tubercles on different surfaces.
Strictly speaking, there is no official diagnosis with this name at all. Trypophobia not included American Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). And this phenomenon has been studied rather poorly by the scientific community.
The very word "trypophobia" came up with in 2005, some anonymous Internet user from Ireland. Since then, a fair number of web forums and social media groups have sprung up where regulars exchange photos of holes and bulges that evoke extreme disgust and disgust. A lot of people learned about their trypophobia precisely because of the collections of such pictures and videos.
How does trypophobia manifest itself?
People with trypophobia when looking at objects with so-called cluster holes or even their images feel anxiety, nausea, sweating, trembling and pruritus. They are especially uncomfortable cause corals, honeycombs, various porous plants and fungi, swarming insects or larvae, and some animals. For example, the Surinamese pipa frog, which bears its tadpoles in growths on its back.
It becomes even worse for trypophobes if such cluster holes are applied using photomontage or makeup on human skin.
Don't worry, it's not a terrible skin disease, it's just makeup. Frames: QUEENKINGSFX / YouTube
But some impressionable personalities can experience a trypophobic horror even in front of completely innocent things: foam in coffee or plastic glasses standing in close rows. Some people can’t even look at the triple camera of the iPhone for a long time.
How common is trypophobia?
Dislike of cluster holes and bumps is very common. University of Essex psychiatrists Jeff Cole and Arnold Wilkins notethat to some extent discomfort when looking at pictures with porous surfaces, most people experience it - even those who deny that they have trypophobia.
It’s just that for some, such a spectacle causes slight dislike, while for others, panic attacks.
Wilkins and Cole showed subjects were photographed showing holes in skin, meat, wood, plants, corals, sponges, mold, dry pods, seeds, and honeycombs. And the majority of respondents noted that they seemed to them "disgusting and huge." They felt that they "could fall into them" or that "something could live inside those holes."
If we are talking about the Surinamese pipa, then tadpoles live in the holes on its back. Frames: Wikimedia Commons
Other studies have shown that up to 17% of children and adults – about one in six people – experience some form of suffer trypophobia. notedthat this fear is more common in women, although men are also susceptible to it.
Because discomfort at the sight of clustered holes is so common, some scientists considerthat trypophobia is not a pathology, but the norm.
Why trypophobia is different from other phobias
Arachnophobes are horrified at the sight of spiders, acrophobes are afraid of heights, claustrophobes panic when trapped in cramped quarters. But the main emotions that cluster holes cause in people are not fear, but disgust and disgust.
In 2018, researchers at Emory University held experiment. They selected a group of 41 students and showed them various scary pictures. snake, spiders and other creatures that most often become objects of phobias. In addition, they were shown pictures with clustered holes and tubercles. In the process, the subjects measured the pulse, pressure, tracked the movement and change in the size of the pupils.
The sight of dangerous and potentially poisonous animals caused ordinary fear, which, in turn, stimulated the defense mechanism built into the person. Pupils dilate, blood begins to actively circulate through the muscles, the heart beats stronger, adrenaline is produced. A typical "fight or flight" response.
And this is logical: when our ancestors noticed a poisonous spider or snake, they either destroyed the source of the threat or ran away, shouting loudly to warn their fellow tribesmen.
And trypophobic images caused a completely different reaction in students. The pupils constricted, breathing and pulse slowed down, the person fell into a stupor. This is not horror, but an extreme form of disgust.
Where did we get the fear of small holes
Psychiatrists from Emory University and Kyushu University considerthat trypophobia is a defensive reaction, but not to predators and poisonous creatures, but to a potential source of infection.
The skin of a person with measles or smallpox, holes made by parasitic insects, pores, wounds and larvae in rotting tissues, wormholes in meat and fruits - disgust for all this laid down evolution in us. Therefore, an attack of trypophobia does not make people scream and run as fast as they can. On the contrary, it enhances disgust, forcing you to freeze and hold your breath in order to contact the source of infection as little as possible.
For about the same reason, we have an innate dislike for the dead, ulcers, and decay products. This is protection against poisoning and infection.
It is easy to see that the cluster holes that cause trypophobia are visually similar for manifestations of skin, infectious and parasitic diseases. In this way, subconsciously, we identify the potential danger of contracting smallpox or picking up a gadfly larva or some of its exotic relatives, such as a wolfarth fly.
So don't think you're going crazy if you don't like looking at holes in cheese. You just have too well developed instincts that have protected your ancestors for millions of years.
Is it possible to cope with trypophobia
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A cup of coffee. Image: Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash
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Corals from Chabahar, Iran. Image: Wikimedia Commons
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Colony of sandworms. Image: Phragmatopoma californica
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Painted butterdish (Suillus spraguei). Image: kristi_decourcy/Flickr
Some people have trypophobia so strong that they can fall into panic, seeing an openwork pancake, pasta lying in a row or foam on the surface of the drink. If your overly heightened senses are interfering with your daily life, you should consult a psychotherapist.
There are no specific treatments for trypophobia. But doctors recommend use the same technique that works against other phobias - gradual exposure.
A person in calm conditions is shown pictures and objects that frighten him, gradually increasing their number and session time. Over time, the trypophobe begins to control his fear and aversion and is able to calmly look at objects with holes and even touch them.
However, as already mentioned, in one form or another, trypophobia is present in many, and usually it does not particularly interfere. It is unlikely that in ordinary life you have to look at the back of the Surinamese pipa, honeycombs and corals every day. So if you don't purposefully google specific pictures on the internet, the fear of porous surfaces won't hurt you.
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