Kids lead initiatives to support mental health
Children face challenging times that trigger anxieties, but they are working together to protect their mental health.
Damien Henderson, USA TODAY
Are sponges, honeycombs, or strawberries giving you discomfort? If so, you might be suffering from trypophobia − the fear of clusters of small holes. While uncommon, this specific phobia can be extremely debilitating, causing some individuals to avoid any situations with patterns of tiny circles. Sarah Paulson portrayed a woman struggling with trypophobia in “American Horror Story: Cult” in 2017.
“For it to be a phobia, it needs to significantly interfere with your functioning, and the person usually understands that it doesn’t make sense,” says Philip Pierce, a licensed clinical psychologist who has treated clients with trypophobia. “It’s a genuine fear, and they’re not pretending, and it’s highly uncomfortable, and it can have significant impacts on someone’s life in various ways.”
What Makes Clusters of Holes So Scary?
Like other phobias, psychologists believe that trypophobia may have evolutionary origins.
“There’s a theory that these things stem from evolutionary fears, just like the fear of heights is a real danger,” says Philip. “In this case, the repetitive patterns could be associated with lizards and snakes, which are often poisonous and hazardous.”
Other natural dangers involving clusters of holes include beehives and poisonous berries.
Kevin Chapman, a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder and director of The Kentucky Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, estimates that up to 19% of people struggle with a phobia. He believes that less than roughly 2% have trypophobia, making it rare.
Still, trypophobia can wreak havoc on the lives of those who have it. Philip recalls treating one client with trypophobia who refused to go outside, fearing encounters with lizards or snakes. Another client couldn’t tolerate being around strawberries or raspberries, causing problems at restaurants.
Something doesn’t have to make you afraid to be a phobia; it can also evoke disgust.
“In the case of this phobia, there’s fear, there’s anxiety, and there’s often disgust,” Chapman says. “Disgust is a significant emotional experience that many people forget about when dealing with certain types of phobias.”
More: More Americans than ever are afraid of the dark, experts say. Here’s why.
How to Treat Trypophobia
If you struggle with trypophobia to the point where it’s significantly impacting your life and wellbeing, Chapman and Pierce recommend seeing a qualified therapist.
One method used by mental health professionals to treat phobias is exposure therapy.
“Treatment often involves doing things you don’t want to do, so it is helpful to have a professional involved,” says Philip.
Exposure therapy, which gradually acclimates someone to their phobia, aims to demonstrate to the client that the thing causing them distress is actually harmless.
“The gold standard treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy, particularly exposure therapy, so I want people to know that there’s hope,” Chapman says. “Exposure requires us to create a menu of situations that involve a cluster of small holes, and we confront those images, the sensations in our body attached to it, places where it occurs.”
If you struggle with trypophobia, or any phobia, for that matter, know that you’re not alone.
“Fifty percent of the population experiences what we call subclinical fear, so it is very common to experience these sort of reactions,” Chapman says. “Be very sympathetic and compassionate for people who have this phobia but also encourage them that there is help available.”
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