Georgie Cooke has spoken out about the severe trypophobia that once made her physically leap away from her laptop screen at work.
Cooke, 35, a software developer, said that her phobia of clustered holes and repetitive patterns has affected her since she was five years old. The condition, known as trypophobia, is estimated to impact between 10 and 18 percent of adults and children according to the Cleveland Clinic, though it is not officially recognized as a distinct diagnosis in the DSM-5.
“I must have been a teenager in high school, and I realized that looking at lots of holes in one area, or repeated patterns, made me feel very uncomfortable, freaked out and scared,” she said in the interview. “I’d get a very visceral reaction that seemed irrational.”
The software developer noted that she didn’t think much of the fear until it resulted in what she described as ‘panic attack-like’ symptoms.
“I started thinking back to other times in my life when I’d had that same irrational feeling – my skin feeling itchy, the walls closing in on me – all from looking at lots of circles or holes, whether that was out in nature or even in artworks,” she explained.
Reflecting on how the phobia manifests in her professional life, Cooke recalled a recent incident at her software development job that left her startled by her own reaction.
“An interesting example is from my most recent job as a software developer. I was building user interfaces and somebody had designed a page with animated loading spinners,” she shared. “When everything was loading at once there were just lots of moving circles on the screen. I realized I physically jumped away from the screen.”
Cooke said she was surprised by the intensity of her response, but that her co-workers quickly learned not to show her certain things when the connection happened to be slow.
“My skin feels really itchy and uncomfortable. It feels like my skin is crawling,” she described of her typical reaction. “I feel uncomfortable and I need to move away from whatever I’m looking at.”
She added that the sensation is not about a specific fear of something emerging from the holes, but rather an overwhelming and irrational discomfort.
“I don’t know whether I think something is going to come out of the holes. It’s just extreme discomfort that’s irrational,” she said.
While the reaction resembles a panic attack, Cooke noted that it doesn’t reach a ‘climax’ but is instead ‘very sudden’ in its onset.
In the viral moment that drew widespread attention, Cooke’s experience of leaping away from her work laptop illustrated how digital environments can pose unexpected challenges for people with trypophobia. The animated loading spinners that triggered her reaction are a common element in modern software interfaces, making avoidance difficult in tech-focused workplaces. Her co-workers’ adaptation to her condition highlights how colleagues can accommodate invisible disabilities once they understand them.
Cooke noted that her phobia remains an ongoing battle, particularly when encountering everyday objects like lotus pods at florists or honeycomb at grocery stores. However, she has developed management strategies that help her navigate daily life.
“I think people assume exposure therapy is the answer,” she noted. “I generally avoid things that trigger me because I’d rather not deal with being exposed to them. Because I can avoid them, I do.”
Medical literature on trypophobia suggests that symptoms can include nausea, goosebumps, sweating, dizziness, itching, shivering, and rapid heartbeat when exposed to trigger patterns. Research published in Psychological Science in 2013 found that 16 percent of participants experienced disgust or discomfort when viewing an image of a lotus seed pod. Experts theorize the reaction may stem from evolutionary responses to patterns associated with disease, parasites, or venomous animals.
Treatment approaches typically mirror those used for other specific phobias, including cognitive behavioral therapy and gradual exposure therapy, though Cooke indicated she prefers avoidance when possible. Some healthcare providers also prescribe anti-anxiety medications or SSRIs when symptoms are severe or co-occur with other mental health conditions.