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The Hole Truth

Mar 17, 2014
by Caroline Miller
Fear of Holes, Trypophobia, William Skaggs
4 Comments

When I was a junior in high school, studying biology was a requirement. The material was interesting but one picture in our text always sent shivers down my spine. The photograph was of a toad hatching little toads from holes on its back. For me, the picture was repulsive. For my pubescent male lab partner it was an opportunity for mischief. Each time we worked together, he’d open the text to the offending page and grin as I let out a groan.

 Over the years, I’ve noticed a similar aversion to hole patterns found elsewhere in nature — lotus pods, honey combs and even holes in dish soap bubbles. I assumed my reaction was unique to me but not so. I’m suffering from a phobia called Trypophobia. (“Fear of Holes,” by William Skaggs, Scientific American Mind, March/April 2014, pg. 12.)

 Oddly enough, scientists didn’t discover the disorder. That honor belongs to social networkers. So many of them shared their aversion to holes that in 2004 they formed their own webpage. That’s when scientists stepped in and began to study the complaint. Now they have a working hypothesis. People who suffer from Trypophobia are reacting to patterns that appear on the skins of dangerous animals and insects or to lesions identified with certain skin diseases. The phobia, it appears, is an ancient device: the brain’s way of warning us we have something to fear. 18% of those who suffer from this aversion are female. 11% are male.

 While a phobia is never pleasant to experience, on the plus side, Trypophobia is one that should cause no one to worry. Sufferers are responding to primal instincts.

lotus pod

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Lotus pod courtesy of www.flickr.com)

 

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4 Comments
  1. Pamela March 17, 2014 at 5:25 pm Reply
    This is VERY interesting! I don't have this phobia per se, although I have to admit that honeycomb and deserted (or negated) wasps nests make me cringe, and I had NO IDEA about the toad birth--holy moly! But it makes sense, this aversion. I have a very, very real phobia of clowns or "characters" that have exaggerated features. I cannot root this in anything but neurosis ... I wonder if the scientists can do better! :-)
    • Caroline Miller March 17, 2014 at 7:01 pm Reply
      Suspect you're not alone on the clown phobia. Have heard of this aversion before. Will be interesting to see what science may discover on that one. Your cringing at wasp nests suggests you suffer a bit from the hole phobia too. Welcome to my world.
  2. tuna cole March 17, 2014 at 9:29 pm Reply
    Ack! Caroline, it's me again, your favorite crank... "18% of those who suffer from this aversion are female. 11% are male." You don't really mean, "71% of the people who suffer from this aversion are other than male or female," do you? Of course, to the fertile imagination this is a possible statistic... But not a very likely one. Cheers, Tuna
    • Caroline Miller March 18, 2014 at 6:34 am Reply
      Hi Tuna. I'm pretty sure the author meant that of those who suffer from the phobia in the entire population, a higher percentage were females rather than males. Otherwise, the 71%, as you point out, would give science an new direction for study.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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