Phobia Runs Rampant Online
The artwork is artificial, but the feeling is real—signaling the emergence of a new psychological issue: trypophobia, or the fear of clustered holes or dots. These densely packed objects typically appear on organic matter, like the bubbles in candy, chocolate, or egg batter, triggering inexplicable dread.Most psychologists currently know little about trypophobia...
Phobia sufferers exaggerate danger
A phobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by persistent fear of a specific object or situation, leading individuals to avoid it at all costs. This fear is often irrational—the actual danger is far less than the sufferer perceives. However, if unable to escape the feared object, the individual experiences significant distress, severely impacting social interactions, work, and studies.In children, this may manifest as crying, tantrums, withdrawal, or freezing in fear.
Phobias are tied to specific environments. For instance, someone afraid of mice wouldn't experience mouse phobia if living in a mouse-free area, though the mere thought of mice might still cause discomfort.The closer a patient gets to the feared object, or the harder it is to escape it, the higher their anxiety level becomes. For example, someone afraid of elevators experiences peak anxiety when the elevator is between floors. Phobias vary greatly between individuals: some experience only mild anxiety and can manage by avoiding the feared object, while others suffer panic attacks. Most people understand that this fear is irrational, yet they cannot suppress their fear response.
Phobias are broadly categorized into three types:
Social phobia involves fear related to being around others, manifesting as extreme embarrassment or tension in social settings—such as dreading eating or drinking in public, or being unable to urinate when others are present.
Specific phobia triggers severe anxiety toward a particular object or situation, like fear of spiders, snakes, dogs, heights, flying, etc.
Strange place phobia causes panic attacks when leaving home or a familiar environment.
Even ordinary people may feel some apprehension toward these things, but it doesn't reach the point of complete intolerance experienced by sufferers.While ordinary people may also feel some apprehension toward these things, it does not reach the level of complete intolerance experienced by sufferers.
Agoraphobia: Leaving home or a familiar small area triggers panic attacks. Fear of open spaces, fear of germ infection, and fear of places associated with past trauma all fall under this category.
Causes: Fear is an evolutionary outcome
Evolutionarily speaking, fear is not without meaning for animals.For instance, fear prompts animals to avoid harmful snakes and spiders; dread of open terrain teaches creatures to conceal themselves from predators; social anxiety drove our ancestors to flee large groups of unsmiling strangers staring at them—clearly hostile individuals.
Extensive research suggests phobias stem from conditioned responses. For instance, if you visit a location where a sudden thunderclap startles you, you unconsciously link the two experiences, developing fear toward that place.Acrophobia might stem from injury or a traumatic experience at height, like being trapped in a scenic elevator at the top floor, leading to reluctance to work in high-rise offices. Conditional reflexes can also form indirectly—hearing others describe dangers or learning frightening information can instill fear. Neuroscience research links these responses to the brain's amygdala and hippocampus.
Clusters of tiny dots resemble contagious herpes
Trypophobia is one of humanity's myriad phobias. One netizen recounted that her fear traces back to childhood, triggered by the densely perforated handle of a toy sword.Another user recalled being stung by a bee on the thigh during high school. Seeing the swollen skin with visible pores made her dread any sight of clustered tiny holes ever since. Mr. Lin from Guangzhou shared a childhood experience: once, while sleeping deeply, his arm exposed outside the blanket was covered in a dense row of mosquito bites. The memory still makes him feel nauseous.
However, many psychologists do not recognize trypophobia as a genuine phobia. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-4), a phobia must significantly impact a person's life. While images or videos of clustered tiny holes may be unsettling, they do not interfere with daily functioning.Martin Anthony, former president of the Canadian Psychological Association and a psychologist at Ryerson University, suggests that trypophobia can be explained by several common factors that trigger fear:
Traumatic experiences, like fearing dogs after being bitten. Small holes in the body subconsciously remind us of infectious diseases that affect the skin, such as measles rashes and chickenpox blisters, which are associated with painful experiences.Viewing images of "lumpy breasts" or "empty fingers" triggers involuntary mental imagery of contracting such "ailments," inducing discomfort. Observational learning: Witnessing others' fear of heights can make you afraid too. Clutter phobia appears contagious—some netizens report not realizing they had it until seeing others' comments, then clicking the image and being startled.When watching a comedy, if everyone around you is laughing, you'll laugh along enthusiastically. Similarly, if those nearby feel fear, you too will experience dread.
Exposure to information: Watching too many horror films can make you afraid of the dark. When major online forums reposted the "lotus pod breasts" image, they included a story:A female scientist exploring the Amazon rainforest noticed inflammation on her breast and asked the team doctor to examine it. He simply applied a patch, but when it was removed a week later, it had transformed into this." Some mischievous individuals even linked "lotus pod breasts" to myiasis, claiming it was a horrific ulceration caused by fly larvae parasitizing the breast—a description sure to terrify the uninformed.
Biological Factors: Some individuals are naturally prone to anxiety. Fear and nausea are inseparable; from an evolutionary perspective, nearly all things that trigger nausea—such as spiders, rats, blood, or vomit—can also evoke fear of disease. Clusters of tiny holes may function similarly, causing people to perceive pockmark-like dots as abnormal danger signals and thus provoking intense aversion.
Of course, all this remains conjecture, as human understanding of trypophobia remains limited.
Treatment:
Endurance Leads to Recovery
Therapists employ various approaches: some expose patients to feared objects or images to gradually overcome fear, such as through systematic desensitization.Other therapists employ cognitive behavioral therapy, guiding patients to challenge irrational thoughts and beliefs by focusing on their own sensations. Both approaches yield positive results; studies show cognitive behavioral therapy eliminates fear responses in 90% of patients, though discomfort must be endured during treatment.