The fear you might not realise you're suffering from that's making your life miserable . We all know people who suffer from phobias, from being scared of the dark to having an irrational fear of flying. But one of the less common phobias is trypophobia.
Officially defined as a "fear of holes", it may seem funny at first, but sufferers often flinch at the sight of things like bubbles, foam or other objects with clusters of holes or bumps. Upon seeing these shapes, some people say they shudder, feel their skin crawl, experience panic attacks, sweat, and feel nauseous or itchy. So it could be triggered by the dry seed pod of a lotus flower.
Some scientists and psychologists question whether the fear meets the criteria of being a 'phobia' - but thousands of people claim to suffer from it on blogs and internet forums. Cardiff-based counsellor and hypnotherapist, Simon English, has been treating people with phobias - including trypophobia - for more than 10 years, according to Wales Online . Mr English - who runs a hypnotherapy clinic in the city centre - said: "I spoke to one client who was suffering from trypophobia. She mentioned a fear of holes - things like honeycomb and a particular flower.
"It was more of a general feeling of disgust - it doesn't look very nice does it?
"For a lot of people with phobias, it can stem from a feeling of not being in control and can sometimes lead to catastrophic thinking.
"Quite often things that affect the mind can also affect the body, which is why some people feel their skin crawl or get sweaty palms and palpitations."
So what advice does he give sufferers?
• Get to the root of the problem - what is causing the fear?
• Talk to people
• See a counsellor if the irrational fear becomes too much
• Try and think positive thoughts - turn the fear into something positive, rather than something negative
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