They say that the more we know, the more we feel ignorant. Every time we learn something new, after the excitement and happiness comes that feeling that it is not enough, we want to understand a subject more deeply. So we are falling into account that the words of Socrates were true: “I only know that I know nothing.”
Perhaps before the Internet there were few cases, possibly millions of people spent their entire lives without knowing it, but thanks to connectivity, today it is known that 18% of the population suffers from trypophobia.
The term responds to the Greek words trypa, which means “hole” and phobia, which is “fear”, and became fashionable in 2005, when images of very small holes or round patterns close together began to cause anxiety on the Internet.
The more organic the patterns are, the easier it is to provoke fear, anxiety, itching, revulsion, and more. Many people really feel bad when someone, without their consent, shows them images of this style.
Anthills, flowers and other natural objects can cause trypophobia, but the situation became something in the media thanks to photoshopped images of body parts, making everything even more grotesque.
What is the origin of fear?
There are two theories published by Arnold Wilkins and Geoff Cole that try to trace the origin of the phobia.
The first says that it is a fear of organic forms that some species of mushrooms and poisonous animals have and that it is inscribed in our DNA as a form of survival instinct.
However, there is another theory by Wilins that says that assimilating so many forms together requires a great brain capacity, so we need more oxygen to understand it and that is frustrating for our brain every time it receives those stimuli.
Whatever the reason, if you think you may have tripophobia, try to watch this video for more than a minute and draw your conclusions.