Uh, perhaps y'all have not thought this through. You're asking if the pictures prominantly displayed on the main page, NOT concealed below the jump, are going to gross people out. My guess is that those people who are genuinely trigered by such pictures are going to close this window, delete this site from their favorites list, and NOT RETURN as regular followers.

No, I am not disturbed by these photos. But I am disturbed by the calousness with which you attempt to poke at someone's triggers, to see if they actually get distressed.

Please put those photos below the jump, so that those who need to avoid these triggers can avoid them.

My husband (who doesn't use Facebook, Twitter or most other forms of social media) has always been really freaked out by the seedy bits in butternut squash, or corn on the cob middles when all the corn has been eaten. I always thought he was just being weird.

I'm with Hummelcat. This is just cruel.

I just really want a crumpet now....

I liked thekitchn's page on facebook and got immediate goosebumps at the pictures. I'm not too upset about it though because I finally know I'm not the only one with this and I know the name for it.

That was just mean. I suffer from this and didn't think I would be staring at those horrible pictures just by clicking on this link. (Some are worse than others. I think the tighter the holes the more icky it is.)

I disagree that it's fueled by the internet (for the most part). I have always been disturbed by things like this and then after running across the term online I finally could put a name to what I had.

I absolutely have this phobia. These things have always grossed me out down to not being able to look when I simmer liquids. It's nice to know it's a real thing and that I'm not a complete weirdo.

I have never had a reaction to images like this, but I have to say that something about those five pictures lined up in a row is really unappealing. Maybe I'm a subconscious trypophobic, or maybe I'm just easily swayed by the power of suggestion.

@Hummelcat, I appreciate your concern and the intention was not to be callous or cruel. While there may be some people who try to avoid triggers entirely, the online trypophobia community is focused on posting and sharing photos of the things that freak them out, so I was taking a cue from some of these sites as well as the original NPR article, which has a slideshow of possible triggers.

AHHHHHHH! This is amazing!!! I feel very uncomfortable when confronted with a cluster of things. Seeds, mainly (cantaloupe, pumpkin, squash, peppers), but also random objects and especially bugs. Not crumpets though. Those are fine. This is really great to know. I thought I was just an attention-seeking freak.

I have had this phobia all of my life and also just thought I was crazy. I have to avoid lotus seed pods at all costs or there is an intense need to crush them. When making cookies I've always had to have someone else stir in the chocolate chips, because the chocolate chips popping out of the greasy dough has sent me into full panic mode. It is definitely real, all the nausea, intensity and even feeling there are holes growing in my back. There are times when it gets worse and have learned the reason for it. It is supposedly displaced anxiety and believe there is a lot of truth to that. I can't tell you the relief I had when I found out I wasn't the only one.

Anjali,

Thank you for your response. I do not doubt that your intentions are honorable.

My concern is that TheKitchen is not a place to psychoanalyse people or post triggers just because other websites post triggers. Anyone who checks out TK can speak ONLY for themselves, and CANNOT evaluate for anyone else on this planet whether these photos are "...just...photos of hole-filled objects" or whether they are mass hysteria or whether they are real triggers.

This post makes me feel sleazy. I come to TK on a regular basis to learn about all things kitcheny, NOT to have posts asking if "here!!! look at these pictures!!!" is a trigger or a fake response. If this sort of thing continues, I will have to go elsewhere for my dose of happy sharing and education.

Please reconsider. This is really sleazy.

Thanks for making me throw up this morning. There's no better way to start my workday.

@Hummelcat

I think you're overreacting a bit.

It's a food related post on a food blog. I don't think anything one was trying to offend anyone else and the justification offered does not come off as sleazy.

I appreciate commenters sharing that they do indeed suffer from this, because honestly I would have never thought this was a real condition.

I guess I don't get what the point of this post is. To get a bunch of people to pass judgment on whether other people have a real problem or not? I don't really think that's my place to say, is it?

And, yes, people post those pictures on boards dedicated to the purpose, but that's not at all the same as posting them here, where people aren't expecting them and can't avoid them. They should really go below the fold.

@hummelcat, Are you triggered by blog entries, and randomly call perfectly good articles "sleazy"? Then you might have internetphobia and should avoid blog posts until your cranky episode passes.

Oh, come off it, you whiners. You're actually complaining - and insulting the author - because she posted pictures that triggers a NON DOCUMENTED psychological reaction in your neurotic hypochondriac brains? Would you have had the same reaction if she said "oh, there's a 'phobia' of leafy green vegetables. Does this picture of spinach freak you out?"

Your "disorder" is not documented in any scientific journals or the DSM, therefore it exists only in pop culture.

Also @hummelcat - this is a blog, not a source of journalism. They are not beholden to you, the reader, for anything. Name any blog and I'll gladly point out articles where they go offroading a bit. At least this is still about food.

Well, I'm definitely not afraid of clusters of holes and seeds (I've had everything above but the lotus pod, just because of lack of opportunity, and everything else is delicious), but the crumpet does remind me of that frog species that gives birth to its young through the skin on its back. *That* is freaky! I do resent cantaloupes for their messiness. :)

I'd like to know what people who reckon they have this phobia do when confronted with the inside of a bread roll? Or an airy chocolate mousse? Or a pancake? Or a milkshake?

Wow there, Steven-- way to pass some pretty serious judgement. Regardless of how you feel about @hummelcat 's posts, why don't you try, for the sake of community, to refrain from making assumptions like "neurotic" and "hypochondriac" ?

You're right: this is a blog and not a source of journalism, but being a very popular and public blog (which by definition does depend on readership) doesn't really give anyone a free pass at posting something that is potentially triggering. The author of this post recognized that this would be a trigger for some people and decided to post a number of photos anyway; since you and the author are not triggered by such images, maybe both of you could just try to imagine that they could be anxiety inducing for some people. That's where the carelessness on the part of the author comes in. Just because your intentions are good and you are not directly impacted by what your discussing doesn't mean that you don't have a responsibility to consider other people's reactions. The author is, after all, making a public post and expecting readership to be interested in what they're writing, no? I'm sure that if this post was about something that triggered you--i.e. caused you to become anxious in any way--you wouldn't be so harsh with your comments.

I also want to specifically point out to you that the APA and the DSM have been incredibly damaging and incorrect about various issues and disorders; depending on such institutionalized litmus tests often leads to the stigmatizing of psychological difference. This has had an enormous negative impact on several marginalized communities. Since you seemingly partook in that stigmatizing so easily, I thought I would let you know that the "scientific" validity that you depend on for your opinions is oppressive and by no means accurate or inclusive across the board.

Ohkay. So, I am so intrigued by the naming of this "phobia". Since I was old enough to sit under my Mom's tabletop bonnet hair dryer, I have been attracted/repulsed by the tiny,tunneling holes of the square little sponge that served as a filter for the intake fan. I recall having an actual physical feeling In my heart like repulsion...but I could. not. stop. looking.....

I absolutely suffer from this. I first realized it when I went on a walk with an ex when it had previously snowed but was starting to rain, and it looked like there were tiny clam "shows" all over the sidewalk. He started calling them sidewalk clams and I nearly lost it. It doesn't happen with food for me so much as it does random objects, and I mostly associate it with insects. I've had dreams about my entire body being infested with ticks or worms where they burrow into holes in my skin. I could feel them on my body for days after the dream - I have a recurring knot in my back and all I could think about was a worm burrowing into my skin. The cantaloup and lotus seed pod were the worst of this bunch for me. The rest seem okay. I don't recall any specific cooking experiences being triggering for me.

I didn't know there was a name for this sort of thing. Sometimes looking at holes or shapes arranged in patterns gives me the willies, for lack of a better term. I zoomed past the pictures here because I thought that looking at too many of them would set me off.

Steven, neither is pretty much any other phobia. The DSM lists it as 'Specific Phobia', it does NOT specify what the phobia is. So no, trypophobia isn't specifically listed. Neither are... pretty much any others. It's just as valid as, say, arachnophobia or acrophobia.