Tripophobia: description, causes and treatment

Human fears are very diverse. You can be afraid not only of spiders and ghosts, blood and height. Fear can be very unusual. Tripophobia belongs to the category of such phobias.

Tripophobia is a relatively new concept in psychiatry. This is a kind of mental disorder in which man is panicky afraid of cluster holes. This fear is called so because of a combination of two words: τρυπῶ (Greek) - “to leak” and φόβος (Greek) - “fear”. Tripophobia is not afraid of a specific hole, no matter how large or small, he is afraid of the accumulation of holes (this is cluster holes).

The term was introduced into some psychiatric reference books in 2004 when a group of scientists at Oxford University managed to describe the corresponding phobic phenomenon. It’s a mistake to consider tripophobia a disease, this is a mental disorder, but this does not mean that a person does not need correction and treatment.

It should be noted that some professional national associations do not recognize trypophobia as a disorder, for example, the American Psychiatric Association denies the presence of such a phobia. Doubts about the description of this fear have both Israeli doctors and specialists in France. It’s difficult to surprise Russian psychiatrists with anything and they included her in the list of phobias.

Tripophobes experience panic attacks and lose control of their behavior when they see multiple holes on a sponge used to wash dishes and plumbing, they cannot contemplate the beauty of the lotus, they are anxious about holes in cheese, in the structure of porous chocolate, and cluster openings on the skin (for example, enlarged pores on the face, on the skin of the arm, etc.). )

In a mild form, disorders of hole accumulation cause tangible discomfort, with severe tripophobia launched, severe panic attacks, panic attacks, nausea, loss of consciousness, respiratory and heartbeat are not ruled out.

A significant contribution to the study of the issue was made by two American scientists - Arnold Wilkins and Jeff Cole. Their authorship belongs to the first works devoted to tripophobia. Researchers claimed that a person’s fear of cluster holes was caused by a strong biological disgust, and therefore it is not too correct to consider it a full-fledged fear. Both researchers were sure that disgust in a person at the sight of a cluster of holes arises as a response of the brain to certain associations, which are somehow regarded by the brain as a danger signal.

Such associations are caused by that part of the brain that Whitkins and Cole called “primitive,” that is, the tripophobe himself does not fully understand what he is really afraid of. Many people suffering from such an unusual fear associated strong excitement with the strangest associations:

• some were afraid of falling into these holes; they were afraid that they would “drag them in”;
• others suggested that inside these holes some dangerous and frightening creatures live;
• still others simply called the small cluster holes "huge and disgusting."

Cole and Whitkin studied in detail the characteristics of images of everything that contains cluster holes, estimated the length of light waves, the depth of the image, and conducted surveys in associative series. In the end, they concluded that cluster holes, wherever they are, really have unusual visual characteristics, almost the same as images of poisonous animals.

So what exactly are tripophobes afraid of? The list of objects that can cause confusion, anxiety and panic in their souls is quite large. It includes a huge number of both man-made and natural images, in which cluster holes are provided (clusters of small or small holes):

• human skin (many pores);
• the structure of animal meat (a large number of fibers, and sometimes through holes);
• wood texture (especially if there are a lot of holes from parasitic insects);
• texture of plants (stems, flowers, flower centers, leaves);
• corals (almost all of their varieties are covered with a large number of small or larger holes);
• sponges (for dishes, plumbing, for the body), pumice;
• honeycombs (usually the worst for tripophobia);
• points and repeating holes on the skin of a frog, toad;
• any porous surfaces (cheese, airy chocolate, yeast baked goods;
• dry pods;
• seeds;
• lather;
• some geological rocks, stones;
• moss, mold;
• sieve, colander, slotted spoon.

The causes of this phobia are shrouded in mystery; the issue is still under consideration by scientists around the world. There is no consensus on the origin of the phobia.There are only theories that can partially explain why some people are afraid of repeated holes. Here are the main ones.

A person is structured in such a way that his brain is always ready to give an assessment of what his eyes and ears hear, this is a biological unconscious reaction to environmental changes. It is important for the survival of the whole species and individual. If a person is not capable of a quick analysis of changing conditions from the outside, then the probability of his ridiculous death will increase significantly.

Cluster holes in themselves do not carry a threat, but are regarded as a kind of irritant. It is to this stimulus that the brain reacts. In cluster repeating holes, he can see a certain threat, the essence of which is not clearly understood, but the result does not change - there is anxiety, excitement, and in severe cases - panic. The brain gives the command to the body - "run or attack." But there is nothing to attack, the threat is not obvious, but the tripophobe is ready to run even now.

Fear can be based on negative personal experience. A person could be bitten by a bee while trying to extract a honeycomb, he could get poisoned with cheese and holes or be injured on dried hard coral. If such an injury was received in childhood, then there is a considerable share of the likelihood that an incorrect reaction to an irritant (in this case, an object with repeated holes) will be firmly entrenched in the subconscious.

Not necessarily the incident should have happened with the participation of an object having a porous structure, but at the time of a strong fright or panic, just such objects could come into the eyes of the child, and then, as in the cases described above, the wrong causal emotional relationship is fixed. For example, a child was punished and locked in a closet where sponges for washing were stored. The contemplation of these sponges at the moment of high emotional tension, fear, close to panic, could create the prerequisite for the development of a phobic disorder, which returns every time a person sees either a sponge by itself, or everything that has a structure similar to it.

For this reason, a phobia also usually starts in childhood or adolescence. An impressive, disturbing personality type is a favorable condition for the development of a phobia. It is enough to get vivid, unforgettable impressions from watching a horror movie, a thriller, and even a film from the Wildlife series, in which, for example, they will talk about the life of bees, honeycombs, corals or frogs.

The cause of lasting and persistent fear can be a frightening photograph, someone’s stories about the dangers that relevant objects may conceal. Often, children's fear is provoked by the parents themselves, who scare him that something terrible can come out of the holes. The child grows up and with age comes the understanding that nothing terrible and terrible lives in porous objects, but fear can’t get anywhere.

The hypothesis of a hereditary transmission of phobias hardly stands up to criticism, because so far scientists have not been able to find genes that could be “suspected” of developing fears. But acquired genetic phobia is a reality. In other words, if one of the parents is afraid of cluster holes, is afraid of clusters of small holes, then a child can acquire a similar form of reaction to these objects. Indeed, until a certain age (while basic fears are being formed), the child sincerely trusts the model of perception of the world that his parents offer him. And if they say that the honeycomb is scary, then so it is.

Manifestations of tripophobia are very similar to most other phobias, but they also have their own distinctive features. Faced with a frightening alarming situation, the tripophobe experiences a severe, acute attack of horror, while the whole world for him at this moment converges to one point - to the cluster holes that he sees. The perception of reality is changing, a person cannot evaluate the environment, changes around him, he often can not control his own behavior. He sees and perceives only a frightening object.

The stasis brain begins to work in a state of increased "combat readiness" - the danger is nearby! He gives commands to the adrenal cortex, endocrine glands, internal organs, which causes numerous vegetative manifestations:

• respiration becomes shallow, almost immediately the body begins to feel hypoxic changes;
• palpitations become frequent;
• sweat glands actively produce sweat, and the salivary “freeze” - it immediately becomes dry in the mouth;
• it is difficult to take a full breath and swallow, there is a feeling of a coma in the throat;
• dizziness appears, loss of consciousness may occur, legs weaken;
• tremors of limbs, lips, chin may occur;
• the skin becomes pale;
• often there is a violation of coordination of movements, loss of balance;
• there is nausea, a feeling of cramping in the stomach, an attack of vomiting may occur.

If you do not take into account the tendency of tripophobes to hallucinations (the brain helpfully "draws" a danger, which in fact is not), then in general the attack of fear proceeds like a classic panic attack. It may contain all the symptoms described, and may include only some of them - this is quite individual.

Tripophobe understands that his fear has no reason, he is aware of this, but can do nothing with it. In order to somehow reduce the frequency of disturbing situations, tripophobes begin carefully avoid “dangerous” and frightening objects - they don’t use sponges, do not dive with scuba gear to enjoy coral reefs, try not to buy or eat cheese, bee honeycombs, bread, do not use detergents so as not to see foam.

But cluster openings in nature are a fairly common phenomenon, and therefore it is impossible to completely exclude a possible collision with an alarming situation. This can happen on the street, at work, while shopping or in any other situation. And then panic can not be avoided.

You need to understand that even though tripophobia is not a disease, it is necessary to treat the disorder with the help of specialists. Self-medication usually does not bring results, because a person is unable to control himself in a collision with a dangerous object. Therefore, it is better to entrust the treatment to professionals - a psychotherapist or a psychiatrist.

For treatment, methods of psychotherapy are used. In particular, the methodology of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy has proven itself, in which the specialist detects specific objects and situations that are terrible for the patient, establishes the characteristics and causes of fears, and then systematically changes the incorrect settings that connect the cluster holes in the patient’s head with danger, to the correct settings which imply a calm perception of the accumulation of holes and holes anywhere.

Used simultaneously methods of hypnosis, NLP, as well as training a person to practice deep muscle relaxation.

Medical treatment, if applied without psychotherapy, usually does not allow the result to be achieved. But in the case of tripophobia, as with most other phobias, there is no cure that would help get rid of fear quickly. Tranquilizers can only relieve manifestations of panic, without eliminating their causes, while causing persistent pharmacological addiction, and antidepressants show results only in combination with psychotherapy.

This will help in the treatment process to achieve the effect much faster. Predictions about the effectiveness of therapy depend on how much a person is interested in getting rid of his fear, how much he is willing to work closely with the attending physician and follow all his recommendations.

Tripophobia is dangerous in that it will certainly progress if no attempt is made to recover. Like any other phobia, the fear of cluster holes will certainly leave its negative imprint on human life. He will have to carefully avoid situations in which he may encounter objects that disturb him.

Another danger lies in the fact that, like any other phobia, tripophobia in a neglected form can deplete the psyche so much that it will have concomitant mental illnesses (namely illnesses!) - depression, psychosis, schizophrenia, paranoia, etc.

Long-standing phobias increase the risk that a phoba will have to drown out her anxieties with alcohol and narcotic substances, so tripophobia has a real chance of becoming an alcoholic or drug addict.