Question for my class and none of the answers stood out so: is trypophobia a real phobia and is it caused by genetics? and developed at a young age?

Trypophobia: Your question led me into an area i knew nothing about -- so thank you! trypophobia is not a phobia known in the dsm-v. But according to one researcher it may have evolutionary origins, related to primal responses to potentially dangerous/venomous creatures. http://tinyurl.com/kcjwclw note that monkeys (and some people!) have similar fear responses when seeing anything that resembles a snake.