There are hundreds of phobias, the list is immense and I am sure that it is only a small part since human fears really have no limits. There are people who are afraid of crowds, closed spaces, heights and spiders but there are also less common phobias, such as the fear of beautiful women, the sun, forests, the color black, clouds… Anyway , the list of irrational fears is very extensive. However, there is a very common phobia that you may have never heard of, I am referring to tryptophobia.
What is tryptophobia?
Tryptophobia is nothing more than the fear of repeating patterns, especially geometric figures and holes. It is worth clarifying that this phobia is not found in the Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders but it affects thousands of people.
The term itself was coined recently, in 2005, and refers to the Greek word trypo , which means hole or perforation. Later, in 2010, there was speculation that it was the second most common phobia in the world.
Symptoms of tryptophobia
Obviously, the symptoms and their severity vary from person to person, but in general, the sight of the object that causes fear usually generates everything from tickling and itching to great anxiety and nausea. In the most serious cases, these symptoms are triggered just by thinking about the images that generate fear.
What are the causes of this phobia?
A recent study carried out at the University of Essex found that approximately 1 in 7 people have a negative reaction to geometric shapes where holes are present. Why?
These researchers think that it is an ancestral legacy. That is, in the animal world there are many dangerous shapes that follow certain geometric patterns so, in theory, it would be a fear that our most distant ancestors have transmitted to us. In fact, it would be an evolutionary advance to avoid the most dangerous animals and their natural habitats.
Source:
Cole, GG & Wikins, AJ (2013) Fear of Holes. Psychological Science ; 24(10): 1980-1985.
