It's the same as claustrophobia or agoraphobia. If you haven't experienced it then it's hard to understand.

It's also overused like gluten intolerance or OCD or the genetic predisposition to the taste of cilantro. A lot of people say a lot of shit.

So because you don’t understand it, it must not be true.

That tells me everything I need to know about you.

Upvoted. Nonsense.

There are a specific set of criteria that need to be met to trigger the phobia, it's not just any random set of holes. For example, your argument doesn't trigger it for me.

People have the weirdest phobias and it's not like an on/off thing. I have a weird phobia on dark water, especially there are man made structures. Locks, weirs and whatever freak me the fuck out and I have to do some mental exercises before I can be near them. Just thinking about this makes me squirm. There's nothing rational about it.

For me, it's very specific arrangement of holes. Organized structure doesn't do it, but a chaotic, or natural arrangement is revolting.

Lizard brain is easily fooled

"It gives me anxiety" is another phrase that basically didn't exist until recently, but that doesn't make it any less true. "It makes me anxious" is an older way to say it, and I hated the "gives me anxiety" phrasing at first, but it's just people trying to communicate.

Phobia can also mean disgust or repulsion btw, not only fear. As in homophobia. Most homophobic people are not scared of gay people. (just the first example that came to my mind)

Also you should be able to at least see or persieve (idk how to spell, probably) the holes. Also it doesn't seem to be as big of a deal if the holes are more simmetrical and idk about square holes idk how peoplewould react.

Exposure therapy works on phobias, that's why they're triggered by specific and uncommon things. If you're exposed to the tiny holes in paper towels all the time, they'll bother you less and less until eventually they might not even bother you at all.

I'm sure if I interacted with lotus seed pods all the time they wouldn't make me want to vomit and scratch my skin off.

I'm sure it is a real thing but it's also frequently used in an exaggerated way by people that don't really have it, kinda like many other disorders ("oh that one tile is crooked, it triggers my OCD!")

I have i and every time i look at my nose in the mirror I freak out.