Most people I know adore chocolate chip cookies and some of my friends are simply addicted to them. So, I guess it may come as a surprise if I tell you that I have never tasted them and I am not even planning to do so.
I can totally imagine that they taste good – the majority of people has told me so. And I perfectly know that a chocolate chip cookie would never go on a dangerous rampage exterminating me and my loved ones but it does not change the fact that I am terribly scared of it.
At this point, you may think I am joking. Because I know this sounds completely ridiculous – I mean, how could anyone be terrified of a delicious cookie? It simply does not make sense.
But honestly, most phobias do not make sense, do they? Like, there are a lot of people who are afraid of spiders but I just find them incredibly cute. Okay, I know some of them are dangerous but the majority of spiders (at least in Central Europe) are totally harmless. But telling this to someone who has arachnophobia (fear of spiders) will not help them overcome their phobia as many of our fears are irrational.
For example, I too am pretty sure that the vast majority of chocolate chip cookies do not pose any major threat to humanity, but I still do not feel comfortable looking at them.
How Did This Whole Thing Start?
Honestly, I do not know when this whole thing started. I guess I have always been scared of chocolate chip cookies – the first memory that I have about this weird phobia is when my cousin was chasing me with a huge plate of cookies. He thought it was fun and I do not blame him for that because this happened many years ago and he was just a little kid at that time, so he thought I’d been joking as he didn’t know how many different fears humans could have.
What Impact Does This Fear Have On My Life?
Now, I have never really tried to overcome my extreme (and unusual) fear of chocolate chip cookies as it has never had any major impact on my every day life. Sometimes I go to McDonalds and they do sell chocolate chip cookies, but I will always try not to look at their sweet selection. Sometimes, my friends serve chocolate chip cookies at their parties, but I will usually tell them to hide the cookies from me because I obviously do not feel comfortable being around them.
And once, I met a girl at the airport (I was travelling to Macedonia with my best friend) who had a chocolate-cookie-looking purse and that was obviously a great shock to me (and honestly, I still cannot understand why anyone would want to have a purse with such a horrifying thing on it) and we had to spend a few hours waiting for our plane while watching her playing with her diabolic purse. So, I guess you can imagine that I couldn’t really enjoy my time at the airport but I survived and the chocolate chip cookie did not harm me, so we can say it was a kind of exposure therapy.
Trypophobia – The Reason Behind My Fear Of Chocolate Chip Cookies
As I have mentioned, my fear of chocolate chip cookies never really had a huge impact on my life so I haven’t been particularly worried about it but recently, I started reading more about the topic (just out of curiosity) and I have arrived to the conclusion that this probably has something to do with Trypophobia.
What Is Trypophobia?
Trypophobia is a fear or disgust of closely-packed holes. People who have it feel queasy when looking at surfaces that have small holes gathered close together. For example, the head of a lotus seed pod or the body of a strawberry could trigger discomfort in someone with this phobia.
Reading the definition of trypophobia made me realize that I probably have it – as I am not only afraid of chocolate chip cookies but I also feel pretty uncomfortable when looking at other surfaces that have small holes on them. Strawberries are still fine (I just love them) but the head of a lotus seed pod does look pretty disturbing to me – and I guess I am not alone with this feeling.
Phobias Are Not Funny!
Okay. I have managed to write an article that may sound funny but do not get me wrong – having a phobia is a serious thing. Being afraid of chocolate chip cookies or of closely-packed holes in general, will probably not have a huge impact on our life, but there are many other phobias that will. In my case, a reason for major concern is my fear of dogs as it can often get out of control and it definitely makes my life significantly more difficult. It is a fear that I have been trying to overcome for a long time – and I actually know the reason why I have it – I was attacked by a dog when I was 5 years old. If you have a phobia that gives you serious distress, the best piece of advice I can give you is to seek professional help.
Your Stories
As you know, there’s one thing that I enjoy more than writing my stories: reading yours. Do you have any unusual phobias? Please share them in the comment section!
Overcoming OCD 
Interesting post😊💕🌸
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Thank you ❤ Glad you found it interesting 🙂
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I’ve never heard of trypophobia but there are many phobias around. Many names but fear is the root. Fear is such a strong emotion and definitely no laughing matter although you managed to write a more ‘lighthearted’ post about it.
I don’t have a phobia but anxiety doesn’t make my life easy. It’s always around whispering in my ear to be careful and alert. Just in case something … anything happens.
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Yes, honestly, me too I had not really heard about trypophobia until very recently and that is when I realized that this is probably the reason why I have always been scared of objects that have a lot of holes/ or hole looking things on them.
Fear is a very strong emotion indeed and while I did write a pretty funny article about this topic it really is not a laughing matter – the only reason why I could laugh at it is because it really does not have any major effect on my everyday life like cookies are just things one can easily avoid but there are many other phobias that are much more serious and can actually turn one’s life into a nightmare.
I can totally relate to what you have said about anxiety – especially the whispering into your ear part, that is exactly the feeling that I will get when my anxiety starts. But a positive thing is that over the years, I have managed to keep it under control (and hope you have the same experience)
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For me my anxiety is linked with my depression. The two like each other very much;. While depression robs me of energy, I don’t have the capacity to reason with anxiety. So the one feeds the other. On the bright side, when depression is more under control, so is anxiety.
Having a good support network helps me not to panic over the smallest things and helps me to build up self-confidence.
In my experience that is also one of the more difficult things to deal with, that anxiety and panic leaves you with feelings of inadequacy.
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I can totally relate to what you have just said – I do not have depression (or it is just not diagnosed) but I do have the feeling that there are times when you just do not have any energy left to fight your anxiety and that is when it just takes control.
And I agree that having a support network helps a lot! Sometimes all I need is a great chat with someone and it will make me feel so much better. Like I have the impression that when you talk about your problems they just become less scarier (at least that’s the case with my OCD & me)
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A shared burden is half the burden!
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Well! This is new knowledge for me. Somehow I can relate to a fear of small holes closely packed together. There is something creepy about it but not enough to put me off choc chip cookies. Thanks for this information
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Thank you for reading! 🙂 And well, this was also something new to me until very recently. I guess a lot of people have this feeling – like closely packed holes do look pretty scary.
In my case, it may be more extreme and that’s why I just can not stand looking at chocolate chip cookies 😀
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The way you have provided detailed tips, opinions, and discussions about trypophobia, is imperative. Reading this post will make everyone feel better about trypophobia.
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I have no idea why but I have a irrational fear of m&m cookies specially the ones with the huge m&ms. So I looked up “I have a irrational fear of m&m cookies”. I think I may have trypophobia. I’m not uncomfortable around chocolate chip cookies but specially the m&m cookies from the brand Keebler I am extremely uncomfortable around those.
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