The Terrifying Phobia That Haunted Utah Last Year

Find out the top phobias that have had Utah on edge.

In 2023 our biggest fear was a fear of holes. That's right holes. Not falling in a hole nor getting stuck in a hole which would probably classified as claustrophobia, a fear of tight spaces. Utah's top fear was Trypophobia which is a fear of holes in patterns. It seems that everyday items like sponges, strawberries, or honeycomb can trigger feelings of revulsion.

At first, I was perplexed, but research behind the fear seemed to commonly impose the unsettling hole pattern on human skin. Whether it be a skin condition like enlarged pores or a Photoshopped composition of holes on a body part, the images can be disturbing.

A possible reason that it caught our interest in 2023? Trypophobia is gaining recognition as an anxiety problem. To be fair this data came from research of what we are looking up online, so it's possible Utah is more interested in Trypophobia than suffering from it.

Not surprisingly in 2020 fear of people (specifically crowds) or Anthropophobia was the highest state top fear.

In 2021 Utah’s top Googled fear was needles. I’m going out on a limb, but I think our trypanophobia has to do more with our love of Sleeping Beauty than fear of the southeast corner of Canyonlands or the desert town in southcentral California. Although there could be an argument for fear of isolation or flash floods in either location.

It feels like this year our fear focus is turning toward other concerns, but if you are still worried about holes in patterns the best advice is to breathe deep and think of SpongeBob Squarepants, the comfortingly optimistic sponge.