Trypophobia brings on feelings of disgust or fear when you see patterns with lots of holes. Sunflowers, honeycombs, sponges and seedy fruits can cause this response. Trypophobia is a type of anxiety disorder.

Most people don’t have a true fear of holes. Exposure therapy may help you manage repulsions to holey patterns.

Some studies suggest that as many as 17% of children and adults (about one in six people) have some degree of trypophobia. It’s a fairly new disorder first named in 2005.

Experts don’t know why some people develop trypophobia. One theory is that the brain associates clusters of holes with danger. For example, you may associate a pattern of small holes with the skin of a venomous snake or the eyes of a tarantula. Or the holes may remind you of skin diseases or skin rashe..