Is there a name for this?

[Haberdash]

I have the following undiagnosed condition. If I see certain textures e.g.: honeycomb, skin with boils, (in a recent Doctor Who) skin with dozens of teeth stuck into it, I just doesn't hate it, it throws me into a prolonged state of mental distress. I immediately cut off from the outside world (DH says he can see it happening in my face) and am deeply upset but can't bear to talk about it as it beings back the images. I recover slowly over days but have flashbacks during this period.

The GP doesn't seem to know anything about this and it seems to be outside the remit of the counsellor I spoke to. I also hate talking to anyone about it as it brings those images back which then mucks me up mentally for days.

Is this a known phenomenon with a name one can look up? I don't know if it counts as a phobia exactly but maybe it does.

Trypophobia

Sorry, Wiki includes a picture of a lotus flower seed head.

It's based around a well known phobia (I have it too) called something like Triptophobia (- I don't want to google as the images come up).

Your reaction is very extreme but the basic 'thing' is a recognised phobia so I would suggest that counselling with a phobia specialist could be helpful.

Thank you for this. So a phobia is not necessarily a fear of something?

What sort of mental health professional deal with extreme phobias?

CBT can offer a different way of looking at things- that sounds kinda feeble : but it can be truly transformative , as way of altering your thinking, which will alter the intensity of your feelings. Practical techniques to change things.
Give it a go, you have nothing to lose.

Thanks. I have tried counselling which I think was CBT but it was a lot about my father (I had a happy childhood which seemed to disappoint) and it didn't really do any good.

I have this! It's only natural forms that do it though, something like an industrial grate doesn't bother me. I think it is trypophobia, don't type this into google or you will be triggered!!!

For me it is all about disgusting skin or things that make be think of that. As you say, an industrial grate would be no problem.

There was a Facebook post with a triggering picture doing the rounds a few years ago that absolutely haunted me for ages.

I think this is a quite common thing - it relates to some biological response. Don't google it though.

Okay if counselling you had looked back at your past, it really wasn’t CBT. CBT resolutely focuses on what you can DO now to change your experience of life.

Ironically, I’ve always been a “let’s delve and get to the bottom of this” sort of person. I only went to 3 CBT anxiety sessions because they said I couldn’t get individual counselling until I’d done that.
The results were so transformative, enabling me to change completely the way I think about anxiety situations, and gave me tools to use when anxiety strikes.
Sorry to go on about me/ just wanted to make the point that good CBT can be transformative, and could help you.
You may need to try several things before finding what you need- but do persist. Could be life changing for you.
Best of luck

How do you make sure you are getting CBT? If you go private there are just great big long lists of names and short bios to look at which I don't find very informative. On the NHS you don't get any choice, as far as I know.

I also find the web of different terms very confusing. There are counsellors, psychotherapists and clinical psychologists. I know that the latter one means they have a relevant degree but I still can't tell you when you should choose which one.