Does looking at the honeycomb give you goosebumps? Take the test to see if you have “trypophobia”: as experts reveal, the Internet is fueling our fear of small holes

If just looking at the honeycomb is enough to give you goosebumps, you may suffer from trypophobia.

Trypophobia, or the fear of small holes, didn’t come to the attention of scientists until 2013, but experts now estimate that 10 percent of people experience this condition.

Scientists who first identified the condition now believe the Internet could be responsible for fueling this phobia.

Researchers at the University of Essex found that people were more likely to be “trypophobic” if they had heard about the condition online or on social media.

So do you have trypophobia? Scroll down to take the test and find out.

In the study, researchers surveyed 283 people ages 19 to 22 who were tested to determine their levels of trypophobia.

To see if participants had the condition, they were shown images of a lotus seed pod and honeycomb, which are often said to trigger trypophobia.

Participants were then asked 17 questions from the Standard Trypophobia Questionnaire in which they rated how strongly they felt various reactions.

These include common symptoms of trypophobia such as “feeling like panicking or screaming,” “feeling nauseous or nauseous,” or “feeling like your skin crawls.”

To see if you have the same condition, try taking the test below by clicking “start” and following the on-screen instructions.

Be careful, this test contains some images that you may find distressing if you experience trypophobia.

For an alternative test, you can also find the Trypophobia Questionnaire used by the researchers at the end of this article.

The researchers found that those who had already heard about trypophobia were more disturbed by images of holes and were more likely to be trypophobic.

Their results support the idea that trypophobia is a socially learned fear, rather than something we are born with.

Trypophobia is quite unique among psychological conditions in that it emerged very recently and appears to have first developed online.

In fact, the name “trypophobia” was invented in online chat rooms and not through any scientific research.

It is not yet a medically recognized condition, but since it was first studied in 2013 it has spread widely through news articles and online memes.

In his article, published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental PsychologyResearchers suggest that social media awareness could contribute to the spread of the disease.

The researchers note that aversion to images of holes was more common among women and young people who tend to spend more time on social networks.

Additionally, 64 percent of participants had heard about the condition through social media.

Just as we need to be taught to be afraid of rats or snakes, researchers suggest that social media teaches people to be afraid of grouped holes.

However, lead researcher Dr Geoff Cole told MailOnline: “Social learning contributes, it is not the only explanation.”

Of those with trypophobia, 24 percent had never heard of the condition before.

This suggests that there may be some people who acquire this fear elsewhere, before spreading it to others through the Internet.

Dr Cole says: ‘They have trypophobia and then discuss it on various web forums.

‘Other people then read them and take a dislike: “Oh yeah, I’ve never thought about groups of holes before, they really are horrible to look at.”‘

Researchers have suggested three theories to explain why trypophobia might arise offline.

Dr. Cole’s original suggestion from 2013, called aposematism theory, points out the similarity between the patterns that trigger trypophobia and the patterns of dangerous animals.

The patterns of poison dart frogs, snakes, and animals like the blue-ringed octopus can trigger trypophobic responses.

This suggests that fear could be an instinctive reaction to traits common to dangerous animals.

A second theory, known as the pathological theory, holds that trypophobia is caused by a similarity to skin diseases.

Decay, disease, or parasitic infections can cause densely packed holes or bumps similar to those that cause distress in people with trypophobia.

Some researchers point out that the phobia could be an evolved disposition to avoid skin diseases and other infections.

In support of this theory, some point out that responses often become much stronger when trypophobic patterns are applied digitally or with makeup to human skin.

Finally, some researchers propose an alternative suggestion called visual stress theory.

Rather than pointing to an evolutionary defense, some researchers suggest that trypophobia serves no purpose and is caused by the brain being overwhelmed by a stimulus.

When people view trypophobic images, studies show that blood rushes toward the visual processing regions of the brain and away from decision-making areas.

This could suggest that the brain simply doesn’t handle these patterns well, which is why some people feel extremely distressed when they see them.

However, if you suffer from trypophobia, there is still some hope.

Dr Cole told MailOnline that he used to experience trypophobia but is now completely desensitised to images of trypophobia after spending so much time looking at them.