We’ve all got our personal deep-seated fears. It can be extremely embarrassing to admit them, so I’ll go first: I’m irrationally afraid of heights and needles. And even though I can conquer my fears for short stretches of time, they still sneak up on me from time to time, especially when I least expect it. So even though I don’t have trypophobia, I can fully understand what someone suffering from it feels.

Trypophobia is the fear or disgust of closely packed holes, bumps, or patterns. When people with trypophobia see clusters of holes, they might feel queasy and uncomfortable, and can even suffer from panic attacks. Something as seemingly innocent as a strawberry or the head of a lotus seed pod might trigger their phobia. There is an entire subreddit, r/trypophobia, dedicated to “the most common phobia you’ve never heard of,” and we’re showcasing some of their most popular photos.

Be warned, though, if you do have trypophobia, these pictures might unnerve you. So, just in case, here is the link to our adorable article about tiny animals perching on fingers in case you need a palate cleanser.

Bored Panda reached out to the founder of r/trypophobia and to the UK Addiction Team Group to better understand phobias, their origins, and how we can overcome them. Be sure to read on for both insightful interviews.

#1 “The Beekeeper Forgot To Put The Frame In His Hive, So The Bees Just Freestyled, Building A Structure That Would Best Handle Temperature And Ventilation”

Image credits: maxkmiller

Nuno Albuquerque, the Head of Treatment at the UK Addiction Treatment Group, was kind enough to go in-depth about phobias with Bored Panda.

“Phobias are among the most common anxiety disorders and are often developed following a negative or traumatic experience or in some cases, from learned or copied behavior from parents or those close to them,” Nuno said in an email interview.

#2 Wild Beehive

Image credits: mcrabb23 2

#3 This Woodpecker’s Acorn Stash In A Granary Tree

Image credits: houshie

“If parents or people of influence have anxiety about dogs, for example, then it is more than likely a child growing up with them will also develop the same irrational reaction around dogs,” Nuno noted that we can ‘inherit’ our social circles’ phobias as we’re growing up.

“Unfortunately genetics and learned behavior can trickle into the development of other behaviors and disorders, such as substance misuse, eating disorders, or unhealthy relationships with food, as well as gaming and gambling,” Nuno, from the UKAT Group said.

#4 Seashell Piece I Found On The Beach

Image credits: durianwater

#5 Yummy Pizza Dough

Image credits: BennyPalmetto843

#6 This Bread That Was Served At Dinner

Image credits: FlanOfWar

Overcoming phobias can be incredibly challenging. However, with the right approach, support, and help, everything is possible.

“Regardless of how a phobia originates, overcoming them can be difficult but is possible. It’s important to recognize if more than one person is suffering and encourage all to participate. Gradual desensitization or self-exposure to the cause is encouraged,” Nuno detailed to Bored Panda.

#7 This Pipe Full Of Barnacles

Image credits: Dabestheris

#8 This Wrinkly Mold I Found Growing In A Bowl Outside

Image credits: Jeff_Haddock

#9 A Burned Tree That Looks Like Spaghetti

Image credits: Seymour_Zamboni

“A more complex and long-term phobia may need similar treatment given to someone with an anxiety disorder or mental health illness; counseling, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy or psychotherapy are all good options to explore.” For help and support with anxiety disorders, you can visit this link right here.

Meanwhile, the founder of the r/trypophobia subreddit and one of its moderators, redditor It_roll, went into detail with Bored Panda about the phobia. “It’s still not understood correctly,” they said.

#10 Extreme Close Up Of Pin Feathers On Pigeon

Image credits: Delicatelybruised

#11 I Opened A Beer Yesterday To Find The Bubbles All Neatly Lined Up

Image credits: pay_dirt

#12 Beans Left In The Microwave For A While

Image credits: throneofdirt

“Some scientists say it has an evolutionary basis to stay away from poisonous or dangerous animals, some even speculate that the patterns are very similar to infectious diseases like smallpox which resulted in developing fear to stay away from them,” they speculated about the possible causes of the phobia.

According to the founder, they created the subreddit as a way to unite those redditors who have the phobia, once they became aware of the scope of the fear.

#13 Barnacle Croc Found On The Beach

Image credits: llamabeanbags

#14 “Child, Why Do You Scream?”

Image credits: NovelTAcct

#15 Some Eggs I Found In The Garden

Image credits: primalshrew

“I always found the hole patterns associated with trypophobia very creepy. Earlier, I didn’t even know this fear had a name but soon on Reddit, I found many other users sharing the same fear like I had and came to know it was very common. So, I decided to create a sub where all of us users with the same fear can talk about it,” they told me about the origins of their community.

#16 Bet You Can’t Guess What This Is. Hint: It’s In A Restaurant (Not A Mushroom)

Image credits: flagler15

#17 Oh Boy

Image credits: panini96

#18 Wasps Building A Nest In Pyrex

Image credits: Beesquared22

Redditor It_roll noted that they personally remain skeptical about some approaches like exposure therapy helping one conquer one’s trypophobia. “Though I have heard exposure therapy works on some phobias like some anxiety disorders, I have doubts if it can be helpful in trypophobia, considering thousands of users see trypophobic content every day in this sub, yet neither I nor anyone else has ever said that our trypophobia was gone.”

#19 Carving

Image credits: Shadowslipping

#20 Lotus Root Inside A Lotus Root. Double Trypophobia

Image credits: chauhan_vandan

#21 Wanted A Cherry Pie For Myself So I Made This Pie For My Trypophobia Husband

Image credits: mmvalady

#22 South Shore Vet Clinic: “This Tick Has Been Hanging Around For Us To Show People For A While. After Months In A Sealed Container With No Additional Feeding She Laid Eggs. This Gives You An Idea Of How Long A Tick Can Be Dormant And How Many Eggs One Female Can Lay.”

Image credits: Secvndvs

#23 What A Great Commute

Image credits: TheOriginalGabz1

#24 This Rug In The House I’m Staying At

Image credits: auroraeuphoria

#25 “Beech Orange” Mushroom

Image credits: pharmacologist2000

#26 A Skull Being Enveloped By Limestone

Image credits: kinggolem45

#27 Trypophobia Burger

Image credits: Apprehensive-Finger

#28 This Glitch In Mlb Always Gets Me

Image credits: ThatsMrRoman

#29 Statue

Image credits: Tonyysp

#30 Mac And Cheese Pork Loaf…

Image credits: freaksh0w

#31 The Underside Of A Mushroom

Image credits: friendofthebirds

#32 This Tomb Ceiling In Iran

Image credits: sn0wflaker

#33 This Hotel Lamp

Image credits: dahliab99

#34 Bottom Of A Bechamel Pot

Image credits: [deleted]

#35 Found In Forest In Sweden, About 1m From Ground, Roughly 20cm In Size. Hard To The Touch, But Drips Liquid When Knocked

Image credits: Tricky_e

#36 Found On A Beach Of Lake Erie. I’ve Lived Near The Lake My Whole Life And Never Have Seen Something Like This

Image credits: livyboop

#37 So I Made Some Pancakes This Morning And Got This Beauty

Image credits: pascualg

#38 I Ate Too Many Sour Candies, And My Tongue Decided To Shed A Layer

Image credits: a_wandering_vagrant

#39 I Got A Fue Hair Transplant. This Was What It Looked Like The Next Day

Image credits: transplantacc

#40 Close Up Of Dogs Paw Pads

Image credits: jennifermiltier

#41 My Girlfriend’s Monster Dandruff Flake

Image credits: soenario

#42 Coins In A Tree I Passed By On A Hike

Image credits: Jayskii1

#43 My 4yo Daughter’s Artwork. Those Red Circles Are “The Holes Where His Hair Comes Out.”

Image credits: SciviasKnows

#44 So I’ll Never Freeze A Carrot Now. Gross

Image credits: PM_YOUR_LOWHANGERS

#45 I Put Too Much Basil Seeds In My Water

Image credits: Hairybuttchecksout

#46 Mushrooms

Image credits: I_love_fatties

#47 Some Stupid Vegetable In My Salad That Came With My Bagel. Just Give Me A Bagel Man

Image credits: KennKennyKenKen

#48 Suriname Toads Give Birth Out Of Their Back

Image credits: pay_dirt

#49 My Bearded Dragons Shedded Skin

Image credits: GRANDADDYSHOUSE

#50 This May Be The Wrong Subreddit For This But I Got My Dad A Grow Your Own Mushroom Kit For His Birthday And This Progress Pic Is Abhorrent

Image credits: [deleted]

#51 A Gathering Of Ladybugs I Stumbled Upon In The Mountains

Image credits: 2MuchDoge

#52 I Purged A Chemical Pump Into A Bucket And Got This

Image credits: hoogers

#53 The 17 Year Cicadas Are Coming Up In Maryland!

Image credits: Sufficient-Dream4579

#54 Candy Corn Pumpkin

Image credits: frozenfruit123

#55 Water Faucet I Replaced With Calcium Deposits

Image credits: Dwight4life

#56 Wasps Eggs In My Lemon Tree

Image credits: peachcobblerincident

#57 I Poured Cream Over Some Freshly Picked Blackberries And They Look Less Than Tasty

Image credits: polystyrenedaffodil

#58 These Boulders At The Tide Pools

Image credits: [deleted]

#59 Poked Holes Into Coconut Flesh, It Looks Like A Festering Knee

Image credits: smuckersgoober

#60 Ginger Lace Garnish I Made

Image credits: [deleted]

#61 This Seashell In My Art Class Almost Made Me Barf

Image credits: STANK__PETE

#62 After A Walk Through The Snow

Image credits: remarkableintern

#63 My Dogs Old Outside Bed. Time To Burn It

Image credits: Lalaa801

#64 I Didn’t Know It Came In Planter Shape, Definitely Not Welcome In My House

Image credits: birdofpassage

#65 This Vase

Image credits: trufflekitten7

#66 The Way My Candle Is Melting

Image credits: Nakamoto1999

#67 My Sourdough Starter

Image credits: altqueenb

#68 The Bar Of Soap In My Shower Has Me Mildly Freaked Out Lately

Image credits: CumDogMillionare93

#69 Weird Ice Formation On My Car Last Winter

Image credits: frogandtoad27

#70 I Took A Bite Out Of A Cherry The Other Day…

Image credits: lyssajay16

#71 Crochet Baby

Image credits: otomennn

#72 These Creepy Barnacles

Image credits: Millenial_Trash

#73 Unsettling Table In A Hotel Lobby

Image credits: [deleted]

#74 Found This On The Beach. Its Fascinating But Skin Crawling

Image credits: jenciufo

#75 These White Strawberries

Image credits: Aristortales

#76 This Hole-Some Egg Is Here To Trigger You To Oblivion

Image credits: [deleted]

#77 This Tree That Woodpeckers Use To Store Their Acorns

Image credits: grasperakiendlyfhost

#78 A Spider Nest On My Porch

#79 B E A N S

Image credits: Cynical_Birch

#80 What Is This Brown Bumpy Thing On My Pringle??

Image credits: shrekbdsm

#81 Our Shower Was Continuously Becoming Clogged And Would Create Standing Water. The Plumber Pulled This Out Of The Shower Pipe. It’s Hard, But A Little Soft, Almost Like Hardened Sap. It’s Light Yellow To Dark Gold. No Odor. Smooth On Sides And Bubbly On Top

Image credits: yogibird

#82 Papaya

Image credits: basilwuf

#83 Traditional Cake From Indonesia

Image credits: butterbeer21

#84 This Root Cluster Pushing Up Under My Brick Pathway

Image credits: lnghrdocare

#85 This Horrible “Home Decor”

Image credits: krisber1

#86 The Underside Of A Fungus I Saw Today

Image credits: littlesparrowxoxo

#87 Hornet’s Nest

Image credits: LordSelrahc

#88 Pineberries. White Strawberries That Taste Like Pineapple

Image credits: I_Am_Meme_Man

#89 This Gigantic Sunflower

Image credits: 46ghjcf

#90 This House’s Siding

Image credits: Ninja2016

#91 An English Crumpet

Image credits: [deleted]

#92 Just Washing A Hairbrush

Image credits: [deleted]

#93 Ticks On A Snake

Image credits: MRRthrowaway

#94 My Wife’s Jack O Lantern. My Sister In Law And Mother In Law Have Trypophobia. They Almost Cried When They Saw It

Image credits: [deleted]

#95 The Ground Outside My Apartment

Image credits: MaxyMu

#96 This Package I Received

Image credits: pleaseseokjin

#97 Not Sure If This Belongs Here, But This Condensation In The Fridge Made Me Feel Uneasy

Image credits: CreamFraiche

#98 The Way The Bubbles Formed In My Bath Yesterday

Image credits: BeccaaCat

#99 Muddy Shore

Image credits: polyamide

#100 Inside Of A Raspberry

Image credits: ChickenJuan

#101 Jabuticaba Tree Also Known As The Brazilian Grape Tree. What Makes It So Unique Is That The Fruit Grows Out Of Its Bark

Image credits: danishlodhi19

#102 These Gross Looking Flakes Of Raw Chicken Skin (Placed On My Finger For Added Effect)

Image credits: Hanabi1993

#103 Chocolate Peeled Off A Chocolate Covered Strawberry

Image credits: SteezyCougar

#104 Dead Palm Tree Roots

Image credits: TheLordsLight

#105 Datronia Mollis Fungi

Image credits: lumpyrumpman

#106 I Accidentally Left This “Organic Potato Soup” In The Pot Overnight

Image credits: VWVWVXXVWVWVWV

#107 Burnt Pepper Gravy

Image credits: C_Redfox

#108 Was Just Googling Pigs In A Blanket And Found These Pull Apart Ones, And It Really Really Bothers Me

Image credits: Thunderboltgrim

#109 These Button Plants (Conophytum Wittebergense) Look Like Creepy Bloodshot Eyes

Image credits: TedTheHappyGardener

#110 What Tf Is This?

Image credits: HopefulKangaroo7390

#111 Guys Guys The Trypostation 5 Controller Was Just Revealed!

Image credits: rdhight

Source: boredpanda.com