Have you already had trypophobia or was it caused by the Internet?

A little over ten years ago, no one was talking about this. trypophobia. There were people who were afraid of spiders, heights, closed places… even buttons! But fear of holes was completely unknown. However, gradually social networks began to be filled with images of soap bubbles, honeycombs and lotus pods. They all seemed to make us feel uncomfortable, which suddenly even got a name: trypophobia.

Today there is a lot of discussion among scientists. Some believe that this condition does meet the criteria to be considered a phobia. Others, however, are against it because they think it is nothing more than internet product. The sight of all these images shocked us all, but it was especially impressive for those who suddenly called themselves trypophobic. Moreover, the fact that they were sometimes associated with parasites inside people’s skin didn’t help at all.

Recent research suggests there may be a combination of both problems. There may be some innate aversion to patterns formed by holes. However, social media made it worse until it developed into trypophobia.

Origin of trypophobia

Trypophobia was first described in the scientific literature in 2013 by two psychologists from University of Essex. They noticed that some people experienced phobia-like symptoms when viewing images with hole patterns.

However, what happened in 2013 was only the first medical description. Eight years ago, trypophobia was already talked about on Internet forums. For this reason, it was believed that there might be some assumption. One of these two psychologists, Jeff Coleis also one of the authors of the latest study conducted by scientists from Universities of Essex and Suffolk.

In it they interviewed 238 people age from 19 to 22 years. The surveys were aimed at checking whether they were disgusted by images with holes and whether they knew the concept of trypophobia. What’s amazing is that 25% of those who felt this disgust They’ve never heard of trypophobia. This would indicate that his fear was in fact something innate. On the other hand, up to 64% admitted to discovering it online.

Why does this dilemma arise?

The science behind phobias is very complex. There are those who believe that they can only be considered as such if there has been Situation it caused them. For example, if you were attacked by a dog when you were little, you may develop a phobia of these animals. Sometimes it doesn’t have to be your own experience. Phobias can be contagious. If your mom runs away from dogs every time she sees them, you may eventually realize they are dangerous and develop a phobia too.

On the other hand, there are phobias that seem to be innate. You can be afraid of heights without ever having the unpleasant experience of being away from the ground. This may have specific evolutionary component. We may have learned to be afraid of heights to avoid accidents. But how to explain trypophobia?

It would be strange to have a traumatic experience with a lot of holes. From an evolutionary perspective, it seems we haven’t had to shy away from bubbles either. The lack of explanation has led some psychologists to conclude that trypophobia is a product of the Internet, not a disease. psychological condition.

They don’t even agree on what percentage of the population suffers from it. Some studies point to 10%. Others are 17.6%, and there are many different percentages between them.

Possible causes of trypophobia

Scientists who argue that trypophobia is more than an invention of the Internet rely on several hypotheses that could explain it. Let’s start with the fact that round images can remind us of natural patterns are associated with various dangers: from snake scales to the eyes of a poisonous spider, to honeycombs.

We may have evolved to avoid these patterns, but we didn’t know it until the Internet put them in front of our noses. Jeff Cole himself became aware of this possibility when a patient suffering from trypophobia told him that he had suffered his first attack of fear of a poisonous animal with a circular pattern.

Other scientists, however, point to something much more physiological. Perhaps our brain requires more energy and oxygen to process the images formed by the circles, which is why we feel anxious. because of the effort.

What is left for us then?

The conclusion of Cole and the rest of the authors of this new study is that trypophobia may have an innate component, but the Internet has indeed greatly influenced its development. We may all have some suspicions about these patterns, but some people exaggerate them out of assumption when seeing images associated with a particular phobia. If they had not encountered this phenomenon on the Internet, they may never have expressed their opinion. trypophobia. This is a prime example of how information can sometimes affect us. Regardless, getting information is always the best option.