At present, the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, text revision (DSM-5-TR) does not recognize trypophobia as a phobia. This is due to the ongoing debate as to whether it is a phobia or simply a feeling of disgust.
Trypophobia is an aversion to the sight of irregular patterns or clusters of small holes or bumps. It is not officially recognized as a mental disorder, but may be diagnosed as a specific phobia if excessive fear and distress occur.
Is trypophobia real? Trypophobia — the fear of repetitive patterns of closely packed holes or protrusions — is not recognized as an official diagnosis, though many who experience it will fit the criteria of having a specific phobia.
In the past 10 years, thousands of people have claimed to be affected by trypophobia, which is the fear of objects with small holes. Recent research suggests that people do not fear the holes; rather, images of clustered holes, which share basic visual characteristics with venomous organisms, lead to nonconscious fear.
1. Arachibutyrophobia (Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth) Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.
The similarity led Cole and Wilkins to conclude that trypophobia triggers a fear of danger. The holes, or images of holes, stimulate "a primitive portion of his or her brain that associates the image with something dangerous," according to Shots.
Trypophobia: A fear of holes, bumps and clusters | CNN.
Understanding the phobia can help you overcome it and live a fulfilling life. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is one of the longest words in the dictionary, and ironically, it means the fear of long words. It originally was referred to as Sesquipedalophobia but was changed at some point to sound more intimidating.
So-called “trypophobia skin” is not a real skin disease, but trypophobia may be a common reaction to skin diseases that can present with clusters of holes, bumps, or nodules. Skin that has holes, bumps, or nodules and trypophobic patterns is also commonly seen on characters in movies, television shows, and video games.
Trypophobic stimuli are associated with discomfort in children due the visual features of said stimuli. The results suggest that such discomfort is due to an instinctive response to the stimuli visual features rather than the result of a learned but non-conscious association with venomous animals.
Symptoms are persistent, leading to functional impairments in daily living. In addition to experiencing symptoms such as fear and disgust, people with trypophobia will often experience behavioral changes as well. Avoidance of trigger objects is common.
Astraphobia (Fear of Thunder and Lightning) Astraphobia is the fear of thunder and lightning. It typically affects children, but many adults still deal with a fear of thunderstorms. Astraphobia is one of the most common specific phobias.
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These words may not come in handy anytime soon unless you're planning to visit Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch or diagnose someone with a pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosisocazoiopustropusopusoashiososinhalopotropopopobophobia is the fear of pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis and is the longest word in English dictionaires.
Autophobia, or monophobia, makes you feel extremely anxious when you're alone. This fear of being alone can affect your relationships, social life and career. You may also have a fear of abandonment that stems from a traumatic childhood experience.
Microphobia is an intense fear of small things, like germs and insects. Trying to avoid little things can lead to negative thoughts and behaviors that affect daily life.
Pluviophobia, fear of weather related to rain, including storms, wind, thunder and lightning.
Megalophobia is common among many people, but can be felt and experienced differently. For example, someone might just be afraid of large animals like elephants and whales, while others might be afraid of man-made objects specifically.
Dendrophobia is a fear of trees. People with this specific phobia feel anxious when they think about or see a tree. Many people with tree phobia have had negative experiences with trees.
What causes trypophobia? The exact cause of trypophobia is unknown, as research in this area is limited. Various triggers of trypophobia have been identified, such as honeycombs, bubble wrap, or fruit seeds. Certain patterns, bumps, patterned animals, and imagery may also trigger trypophobic reactions.
Four years ago two psychologists at the University of Essex in England, Geoff Cole and Arnold Wilkins, decided to research the phenomenon.
If you are experiencing anxiety, chills, panic attacks, and other adverse reactions in response to clusters of holes, bumps, and patterns, you may have trypophobia. Even though this condition deserves further research, it's surprisingly common. While there isn't a cure, trypophobia is highly treatable.
In light of this, the researchers speculate that trypophobia may have an evolutionary basis — clusters of holes may be aversive because they happen to share a visual feature with animals that humans have learned to avoid as a matter of survival.