8 Tips To Cure Trypophobia (Cavity Phobia)

Do you have an extreme aversion to clusters of holes or bumps?

Do you experience all kinds of unpleasant symptoms when you are confronted with these structures? Then there is a good chance that you suffer from trypophobia .

Someone suffering from trypophobia has an aversion or fear of clusters of holes or bumps.

Some people immediately get goosebumps when they see honeycombs or the inside of a pomegranate.

But the structure of a coral reef or pumice stone can also make someone with trypophobia feel anxious.

Do you suffer from this condition and do you want to know how to treat this phobia? Then read this article carefully!

Table Of Contents

What is trypophobia?

Symptoms of trypophobia

What causes trypophobia?

Is trypophobia a real phobia?

Overcoming cavity phobia? 8 treatment tips

Purpose of this article: With this article I want to help you better understand trypophobia. You will learn what symptoms you can experience if you suffer from trypophobia and, above all, how to get rid of your fear of cavities.

What is trypophobia?

If you suffer from trypophobia you have an extreme aversion to clusters of holes or bumps. If you see photos of such structures, this can cause you to experience many unpleasant symptoms.

If you are confronted with these structures in your daily life, your fear can be so overwhelming that you can have an anxiety attack or a panic attack .

For example, if you like honey, you usually don’t think about how it is produced. Unless you suffer from trypophobia. Then you can’t shake the thought of how the honey is collected in the hexagonal cells of a honeycomb.

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But what exactly can you dislike so much if you suffer from cavity anxiety?

Some examples:

• The seed pods of a lotus flower
• The heart of a sunflower
• Honeycombs
• Spores on the underside of leaves of all kinds of plants
• The edge around the stem of mushrooms
• The inside of pomegranates
• Bone marrow
• Coral reef
• Pumice stone
• Sponges
• Metal structures with holes
• Etc… etc…

As you can see, the list of structures you can dislike if you suffer from trypophobia is endless. What exactly people with trypophobia are afraid of depends from person to person.

It is believed that the larger the cluster of holes or bumps, the greater the fear of these structures.

The symptoms you experience if you suffer from trypophobia can also be very diverse. You may experience fairly mild symptoms, but they can also be so severe that they lead to an anxiety or panic attack.

Symptoms of trypophobia

If you suffer from hole phobia, the following mild symptoms may occur when you are confronted with hole structures.

• A general feeling of discomfort
• A feeling of disgust
• Goosebumps
• Shivers all over your body
• Start sweating excessively

If you have a more serious form of trypophobia, the following symptoms may also occur:

• An overpowering anxious feeling
• The feeling that you are short of breath
• Palpitations
• Trembling
• Getting dizzy
• Feeling sick, vomiting or diarrhea

Because trypophobia can have a quite negative impact on your life – after all, you are confronted with these structures very often – it is important to know where this fear of holes comes from.

What causes trypophobia?

Perhaps you have already felt a certain uneasiness when confronted with certain structures…

But have you never heard of trypophobia? That is not surprising at all because this condition was only diagnosed relatively recently.

Scientists do not yet fully agree on the causes of trypophobia. It is a condition that is quite common, but has not been studied much.

The  first scientific research  into trypophobia dates back to 2013 and was conducted by  Arnold J Wilkins  and  Geoff Cole , both professors at the University of Essex.

Their research was aptly named ‘ Fear of Holes ‘. During this study, they discovered that people suffering from trypophobia unconsciously associated innocent things such as lotus flower seeds with dangerous animals such as the  blue-ringed octopus.

They therefore regarded fear as a protection mechanism against dangerous animals that could attack us.

A 2017 study conducted by Chinese researchers Wang Can , Zhao Zhuoran and Jin Zheng challenges this theory.

They studied the reaction of children when they saw certain hole structures to determine whether the fear was indeed related to the association with dangerous animals.

What turned out? The children made no connection with dangerous animals at all. Their fear was triggered by the visual features of these structures.

The precise cause of trypophobia is therefore not entirely clear. However, there are a number of risk factors that can trigger trypophobia.

Cause 1: familial predisposition

If trypophobia runs in your family, you have an increased chance of developing this fear of holes yourself.

This has to do with – consciously or unconsciously – learned behavior.

If as a child you notice that your parents are afraid of something, there is a good chance that you will also develop a certain fear of it.

Yet researchers from the University of Bonn also claim that there is a gene that triggers our fear of certain things.

This gene is said to be responsible for transporting serotonin (happiness hormone) to the brain. The research into this is still at an early stage.

Not much is known about other risk factors for developing trypophobia.

Some researchers do claim that this condition may be linked to other mental disorders.

Cause 2: depression and general anxiety disorders

A 2017 scientific study found a link between trypophobia and both depression and general anxiety disorders.

According to the researchers, people who suffer from depression or anxiety disorders are more likely to develop trypophobia.

Cause 3: Social anxiety disorder

A scientific study published in 2016 discovered a link between trypophobia and social anxiety disorders .

This could be due to the round shape of the eyes. If you have the feeling that many people are staring at you, you may immediately think of a surface full of eyes that – with a little imagination – can look like holes.

Cause 4: Men vs. Women

Although trypophobia occurs in both men and women, women are more affected by it.

You may have already noticed that when we talk about the fear of holes, we always talk about a phobia. A phobia is indeed a condition in which you experience an extreme fear of something.

Another characteristic of a phobia is that this fear is completely out of proportion to what you consider to be a danger.

If we apply this description to fear of certain structures, we can indeed speak of a phobia. Yet, in terms of qualification, there is more to trypophobia.

How so? You’re probably wondering. In the next section you will find out whether trypophobia is really a phobia.

Is trypophobia a real phobia?

In the DSM-5 – the diagnostic and statistical manual of psychiatric disorders – trypophobia is not classified as a phobia according to the applicable criteria.

The main reason for this is that according to the manual, this condition has no impact on daily life. Strictly speaking, this is not a phobia.

However, if you suffer from trypophobia yourself, you know all too well that your fear of holes can have a very negative impact on your daily life.

When you see a photo of a cluster with holes, it often spontaneously gives you goosebumps or chills. You can avoid certain TV programs and magazines as a result.

This in itself is very easy to live with. It gets worse if you are confronted with this in your daily activities.

For example, depending on what triggers your trypophobia, you will avoid certain dishes. Fear can also strike your heart when you see concrete or metal constructions with holes on the street.

From the moment you feel that this fear of gaps is negatively affecting your life in some areas, it is high time to do something about it.

Don’t think that your fear of holes is invincible. Ready to overcome this fear for good? Then read the following tips carefully.

Overcoming cavity phobia? 8 treatment tips

Tip 1: Learn more about trypophobia

You may have found it strange for years that you become anxious when you see a cluster of holes or bumps.

Out of fear or shame, you may have been silent all your life about your habit of avoiding objects with holes. Maybe until now you thought you were the only one with this problem.

I hope that this article has given you clarity about hole phobia and that you now realize that there are more people with this condition.

You probably understand now that you are not at all strange if holes give you goosebumps and that trypophobia can have several causes.

Understanding trypophobia can help you get rid of your fear of holes. The more you learn about this, the less likely it is to negatively impact your life.

Tip 2: Identify what triggers your anxiety

To get rid of your hole phobia, it is important to know which things or structures trigger your fear.

This way you can better understand your fear and prepare to tackle your trypophobia in a very targeted manner. Therefore, make a list of everything that makes you anxious and indicate how you respond to these things.

Is it mainly patterns on fruit or vegetables that make you anxious? Do you find it annoying to look at it or is it mainly when you touch these things that you become anxious?

Do you find it scary to be confronted with certain structures on the street and what are they?

Is it mainly concrete with holes that makes you anxious or do you also experience certain symptoms when you look at someone wearing a dress with a certain structure?

Once you know which things trigger your anxiety, you can look for more targeted solutions.

Also try to find a certain pattern in your fears and classify the patterns that make you anxious. Place the one you are least afraid of at the top and tackle these hole structures first.

This way you can learn step by step to deal with certain structures.

Tip 3: Face your fear and rationalize it

When confronted with a holey structure, your first reaction may be to flee as quickly as possible or to squeeze your eyes shut really hard and think about something else.

Unfortunately, this does not solve your problem. The next time you are confronted with a hole pattern you will do the same thing so that your fear does not disappear at all.

Force yourself – no matter how difficult this is – to confront what makes you anxious. Try to remain calm and calm and keep your feelings under control.

Then think rationally about what exactly is the worst thing that could happen to you. You may feel your heart racing, sweating, or feeling dizzy. And beyond that… nothing.

That’s it. If you experience physical symptoms, be aware that this is a natural reaction of your body to protect you against possible danger. You are certainly not suffering from a serious physical condition.

Exposing yourself to what makes you anxious and facing your fears is a simple form of exposure therapy . If you are too insecure to confront your fears alone, you can contact a psychotherapist.

Tip 4: practice relaxation techniques

Relaxation techniques can help you respond appropriately when you experience symptoms of trypophobia.

Yoga and meditation are perfect relaxation techniques to calm both your mind and body.

Once you have learned these techniques, you can apply them perfectly if you are terrified when you see a hole pattern.

You can take yoga and meditation classes at a gym near you. If you prefer to learn these techniques on your own, you can find numerous online lessons on the internet.

Tip 5: a healthy lifestyle

Eating healthy and exercising enough will not immediately help you get rid of your trypophobia, but they can help you to be stronger in life.

Anxiety can completely exhaust you. Are you constantly on your guard so that you do not have to come into contact with hole structures?

Do you always feel anxious because you might be confronted with such patterns?

Then you will probably know that this requires a lot of mental energy. Our mind and body are connected and therefore your general health will eventually suffer from your trypophobia.

If you pay enough attention to your body’s basic needs such as food, sleep and exercise, you will feel much stronger in overcoming your trypophobia.

Tip 6: Seek professional help

If you feel you cannot overcome your trypophobia on your own, seek professional help.

A psychotherapist can help you with various therapies to overcome your fear of holes for good.

Tip 7: Exposure therapy

In tip 3 I already briefly talked about exposure therapy. You will look for exactly those things that you are afraid of.

You can do this on your own, but also with the help of a therapist. This will tackle your fear of holes very gradually.

He or she will first ask you to imagine an object with holes and measure your responses.

Then it’s time for the real work: actually confronting the object of your fear so that you can gradually overcome it.

Tip 8: cognitive behavioral therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy mainly focuses on changing your behavior by challenging your thoughts and identifying your emotions.

Maybe you are afraid to walk in a certain neighborhood because there are concrete blocks with a hole pattern.

Your therapist will point out to you that these concrete blocks pose no danger to you at all and that your fear of them is therefore unrealistic.

The intention is to then revise your thoughts so that you realize very clearly that when you look at these concrete blocks, you indeed experience that nothing is happening.