I've known about the phobia for several years - back in the day it wasn't uncommon for people to post shoops of tits with lotus flower holes in them on 4chan's /b/ or /x/ boards just to skeeve people out. While I'll give the writer credit that holes where there aren't supposed to be holes can be unsettling, for it to be so triggering that you can't look at a damn sunflower without being triggered is just being mentally fragile. They need some exposure therapy and to learn to get over it.