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You may have heard of various ‘phobias’ such as ornithophobia, claustrophobia, hydrophobia and more, but trypophobia is probably the most disturbing, strange and unheard of them all.

Read on to know more about it.

What is Tyrpophobia?

The urban dictionary describes trypophobia as ‘…an intense, irrational fear of (organic) holes.’ Basically, trypophobia is the fear of ‘too many holes’ and things that have a lot of tiny holes on them.

Causes of Trypophobia

Though the actual cause of this strange condition is not yet known, it is believed that this condition occurs right from early childhood and proceeds into the teenage years, slowly wearing away. The condition arises as a result of certain external and internal predispositions, or possibly some traumatic event in the earlier stage of life, just like many other phobias.

Symptoms of Trypophobia

An individual suffering from tyrpophobia generally experiences a feeling of uneasiness and itchiness on the entire body after looking at a substance or an object that has lots of tiny holes on its surface such as bone marrow, lotus seed pods, a wasp’s nest, a sponge etc.

A person suffering from trypophobia usually has two different reaction possibilities at the appearance of the ‘holes.’ He may either watch it for a while and then think of covering or destroying it, or he would suffer from dizziness at the sight of these holes.

Diagnosis of Trypophobia

Not a lot is known about the origin and the cause of this condition, which is why, there are no fancy diagnostic tests for it. If looking at the image makes you feel uneasy, you may be a trypophobe too!

Treatment of Trypophobia

It is believed that cognitive behavioral therapy, neurolinguistic programming and other psychological therapies could help treat patients suffering from trypophobia.

Since most phobias are based on a deep-rooted emotional problem, behavioral therapy, hypnotherapy and counseling can prove to be effective in treating people suffering from trypophobia.

“Fear is only as deep as the mind allows” a Japanese proverb sums it all.

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