Is “trypophobia” really a disease? Maybe you can cure it after reading this!

Today, let’s talk about a word that everyone may be familiar with by now: trypophobia.

If you don’t understand this word, then imagine these scenes with me:

On the surface of the pond, a large number of frog eggs were floating densely;

The dried lotus pods stare at you with seemingly countless black holes;

On the reefs by the sea, barnacles cling tightly to the entire reef;

In a huge beehive, countless bees are going in and out;

At a strange fashion show, models were covered with small black and white patches all over their bodies, and even their faces were densely covered...

Well, if you don’t feel any psychological fluctuations when imagining the above scenes, and even cannot understand what is special about these scenes, then congratulations, you don’t have trypophobia.

But if, like me, you feel an uncontrollable feeling of disgust or even nausea when imagining these scenes, then unfortunately, you may be a trypophobic like me.

01

What is "trypophobia"?

"Trypophobia" is not a very old word. It actually first appeared in 2005.

On this day, an Irish netizen named Louise created this new word.

She defined the word as an unconscious fear of something that pierces the body, and she coined the word because she herself is a "victim."

She had an indescribable fear of bubbles in lotus pods, honeycombs, cheese, and even chocolate. When she saw these "holes", she felt as if someone had grabbed her heart tightly in an instant, and fear arose spontaneously.

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When this word was coined, it quickly attracted a large number of people like Louise who were afraid of "holes" on the Internet, which forced scientists to pay attention to this strange phenomenon.

02

Why are we afraid of density?

Some scientists believe that the reason why humans have the feeling of "nausea" is actually the body's self-protection mechanism.

The feeling of "sickness" helps us avoid some pathogens, which are often found in rotten food, poisonous plants, large pools of vomit or dead animals.

Think about it, do these images make you feel nauseous unconsciously? (With a "yue" sound, we retched violently, turned our backs in embarrassment, and escaped the attack of pathogens.)

What harm will dense density bring to the human body?

Think about the lice, fleas and even ticks that crawl all over the surface of animal skin. Perhaps trypophobia arises because we unconsciously want to avoid these harmful creatures.

In addition, if we are unfortunately infected by pathogens, our skin will also become ulcerated due to the infection, and that scene is also quite dense.

Therefore, fear of dense crowds is actually our way of protecting ourselves. When we encounter potential danger, before we realize it, our body has already instinctively told us to "run".

03

How to treat trypophobia?

Although it is a self-protection mechanism, seeing anything that is even slightly dense is very uncomfortable, and sometimes it can really cause pain to people with trypophobia.

Therefore, every trypophobia patient certainly wants to overcome it. But unfortunately, if you want to overcome trypophobia, you may need to accept it first.

When I was a science editor, I often had to deal with a large number of images.

For example, a humpback whale covered with barnacles, a toad jumping around with frog eggs on its back, and a dog's inflamed legs full of ticks...

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Because of my job, I have to face my fears, often feeling nauseous while looking at a full screen of pictures like this.

The amazing thing is that over time my trypophobia has become less severe.

The density of bubbles like those on the surface of coffee is no longer enough to cause me fear.

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Of course, my fear of ticks has not disappeared. When I look at photos of densely packed ticks, I still feel an irresistible feeling of nausea in my heart, but I can still insist on finishing my work.

In short, I have a lower range of panic attacks on crowds and lower levels of nausea.

In fact, this is a very important treatment for intensive phobia: exposure therapy.

Look at densely packed pictures repeatedly until you become numb, and then you will break through this "self-protection" firewall.

However, the process of exposure therapy is quite painful, and it can cause psychological harm if you are not careful. If you really want to change yourself through exposure therapy, remember to combine it with some relaxation exercises and don't be too hard on yourself.

For example, after looking at a lot of dense pictures for a while, I will look at some furry animals to relieve the huge psychological pressure.

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Of course, if your trypophobia is not so serious that it affects your life, you don’t necessarily need to be so hard on yourself. What’s wrong with being a little afraid?

Author: Sydney

Review | Tang Yicheng, Chief Editor of Beijing Zhongke Popular Mental Health Promotion Center

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