The extent to which trypophobia exists is unknown,[1] but the available data suggests that having an aversion to trypophobic imagery is relatively common.[1][2][3] 16% of a sample of 286 participants in a 2013 study reported discomfort or repulsion when presented with an image of a lotus seed pod and its authors found that non-trypophobic individuals also experienced more discomfort when viewing trypophobic imagery than when viewing neutral images.[1]