Imagine you’re scrolling through TikTok and come across an image of a lotus seed pod or sponge.

You might not think much about it, but some people instantly feel sick. Their skin crawls, they feel nauseous, disgusted or very uncomfortable, and quickly swipe away.

The object is harmless. So why does it trigger such a strong reaction?

This reaction is known as trypophobia, an aversion to clusters of holes or circular patterns. About one in six people have at least some degree of discomfort when seeing these patterns.

Despite the “phobia” in its name, trypophobia is not simply a “fear of holes”. It is also not recognised as a standalone mental health disorder. Unlike many phobias, disgust (rather than fear) is often the more dominant emotion.

Common triggers are lotus seed pods and honeycomb, or even everyday objects such as sponges, crumpets, bubbles, aerated chocolate or strawberries.

For most people with trypophobia these reactions are mild and can include disgust, nausea, skin crawling sensation, fear and anxiety.

But for a small group, symptoms can become so distressing they lead to people avoiding particular images, objects, or situations. This is a level of avoidance usually seen in specific phobias, such as arachnophobia, a fear of spiders.

In my own research, some participants avoided........

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