Woman didn't realize her phobia of holes until 'panic attack' - now even her laptop triggers her
A woman whose severe phobia of holes can be 'triggered' by her laptop screen has opened up about the 'visceral reaction' she experiences.
If you have never heard of 'trypophobia' before, you may be surprised to learn that it affects roughly 10 to 18 percent of adults and children, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
And Georgie Cooke, 35, has suffered with the severe phobia from being as little as five years old.
Put simply, trypophobia is 'a type of anxiety disorder', and it typically brings on feelings of 'disgust or fear' when a person see patterns with lots of holes.
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And after struggling with optical illusion books in her early years, it wasn't until Georgie reached high school that she found out there was an actual word for her uncontrollable fear.
Speaking with UNILAD, she said: "I must have been a teenager in high school, and I realized that looking at lots of holes in one area, or repeated patterns, made me feel very uncomfortable, freaked out and scared.
"I'd get a very visceral reaction that seemed irrational."
The software developer noted that she didn't think much of the fear, until it resulted in 'panic attack-like' symptoms.
She explained: "I started thinking back to other times in my life when I'd had that same irrational feeling - my skin feeling itchy, the walls closing in on me - all from looking at lots of circles or holes, whether that was out in nature or even in artworks."
Reflecting on how the phobia shows up in her day-to-day life, Georgie recalled a recent experience she had at work.
"An interesting example is from my most recent job as a software developer. I was building user interfaces and somebody had designed a page with animated loading spinners.
"When everything was loading at once there were just lots of moving circles on the screen.
"I realized I physically jumped away from the screen."
The 35-year-old noted that even she was 'surprised' by the extent of her reaction, but that her co-workers learnt not to show things to her if the connection happened to be slow.
What are the physical symptoms of Trypophobia?
"My hands shake," Georgie explained.
"My skin feels really itchy and uncomfortable. It feels like my skin is crawling."
She added: "I feel uncomfortable and I need to move away from whatever I'm looking at.
"I don't know whether I think something is going to come out of the holes. It's just extreme discomfort that's irrational.
She noted that while like a panic attack, her reaction doesn't reach a 'climax', it is 'very sudden'.
How has she overcome her phobia of holes?
Georgie noted that while her phobia is still an ongoing battle, particularly if she sees lotus pods at the florist or honeycomb at the grocery store, there are things she can to manage her reactions.
"I think people assume exposure therapy is the answer," she noted.
"I generally avoid things that trigger me because I'd rather not deal with being exposed to them. Because I can avoid them, I do."
Topics: Mental Health, Life, Viral, Community
Mia Williams