So Apparently I Have Trypophobia...

      Around Christmastime last year, I experienced a very strange feeling while baking. I was folding powdered sugar into a large bowl of batter. The powdered sugar gathered into small clumps as I stirred, forming tiny depressions in the surface of the mixture. For some reason, as I viewed these tiny holes with tiny powdered sugar balls nestled inside them, I was filled with an unreasonable feeling of dread and anxiety. It wasn't a serious or debilitating fear, and I continued the process to completion, but I was very confused as to why the sight of these tiny holes should cause me such discomfort. I supposed that I was just tired, and paid the experience very little mind.
        In January, I experienced a similar feeling while walking outside in the snow. The salt crystals sprinkled on the sidewalk caused small depressions in the snow similar to the holes in the batter. I felt the same unnamed sense of anxiety. I didn't like looking at these tiny holes, and at the same time, they fascinated me in a grotesque way. I was unsure of what to do with this feeling, and I was very confused as to why I should feel this way at all.
        Today, I was watching a video by Toxic Tears, a youtuber that I recently discovered and have been enjoying, and she mentioned that one of her phobias is tyrpophobia, the fear of small holes. When I looked up the term, the first thing that appeared on my screen was a string of pictures of tiny holes clustered together, some on plants and some photoshopped onto human skin. I was immediately filled with the same anxiety I had felt about the batter and the snow.
        Apparently trypophobia is extremely common. It has yet to be recorded in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), but research on this topic has been taken seriously. The fear is a biological impulse; our brains often associate patterns of tiny holes with danger, because of the harmful things that occur in nature sporting a pitted surface; for example, certain venomous creatures such as the blue ringed octopus, tiny holes bored by insects, or certain skin diseases. For people with trypophobia, it does not matter if the cluster of holes they are looking at actually present a threat; either way, their first reaction is fear or disgust. For some people, the sight of tiny holes can actually cause panic attacks or physical responses such as sweating.
        If you think you may have trypophobia, please be cautious in your research. The internet pulls up a lot of images which, for someone who experiences this fear, could be really, really disturbing.
        
I got my information here.Warning: there are pictures.
http://www.medicaldaily.com/fear-holes-trypophobia-most-common-phobia-youve-never-heard-researcher-says-255357
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trypophobia
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/understanding-trypophobia-why-some-people-fear-holes/