trypophobia

When I was around 10, I remember standing outside at recess and noticing a tree. Around the tree were several small holes in the dirt. I was completely freaked out by this. I couldn't stop starting at it though, as uncomfortable as I felt. I grabbed a stick and poked the ground, messing up all of the holes. It was the only way that I felt better!

My Grandmother used to have lotus seed pods in several of her flower arrangements. They completely irked me, I felt like my skin was crawling whenever I saw them. I never really said anything because I thought it was so absurd. I wanted to crush those suckers into dust!

Anything that has many asymmetrical holes in a cluster makes me feel like this. I cannot stand honeycomb, even looking at videos of beehives. About a year ago we were watching Spongebob at the Dendy's and "The Suds" episode came on, where Spongebob gets sick and eventually plugs up all of his holes with corks. I thought I was going to die. The problem is though, the trigger for me is like a train wreck, as much as I want to look away, I have to STARE at it! I stare at it until I can't stand it anymore and I feel terribly uncomfortable. That episode came on the other day and before the corks came, I vacated the room. I am still mildly uncomfortable about Spongebob in general. It didn't dawn on me until that episode that he was full of holes! AH!

I avoid the flower arrangement sections during the fall, because I know that the lotus seed pods will be out in full force! The other day I got bored, so I was looking on snopes.com in the pictures section. One was of this "breast rash" in which someone had apparently had maggots growing in their breast. The thought of that didn't even phase me at all and I knew ahead of time that it was fake anyway. The picture was superimposed but the pattern of the rash was like a lotus seed pod. I had just seen something else that was *real* and actually much worse, but that *fake* picture sent me through the roof.

I thought for sure I was the only nut with this problem, no one else could be so trivial about something so silly. But, I'm not alone! It's called trypophobia and apparently several people suffer from it, some much worse than I do. I can usually get over the trigger in a few minutes and if any feeling is residual (I am still getting over that rash picture) I can still function even if I do feel a bit irked out. Out of all things to be afraid of, I'm afraid of small holes!

I'm sure not many people know this about me and talking about it seems easier now that I know there is a name for it and that I'm not the only one who suffers from it. I think it's probably one of the silliest phobias you can have and I'm glad I can laugh about it and get through it without too much trouble!