A rare phobic disorder in which a person is terrified of being touched is called haptophobia. Synonyms: aphenphosmophobia, haphephobia. Life in society implies constant emotional and physical contact with other people.
Pats on the shoulder, hugs and handshakes are seen as signs of friendliness. If any tactile contact causes a lot of negative emotions in a person, then we can talk about the presence of haptophobia.
Causes of haptophobia
A phobia can be the result of both serious emotional disturbances and seemingly insignificant circumstances.
- Experienced physical violence. After a psychological shock, any touch is subconsciously perceived as the beginning of an act of aggression or associated with it.
- The person is a survivor of sexual violence. The phobia can develop both in victims of pedophilia and after violence experienced in adulthood.
- Attitudes instilled by parents. Constant warnings and intimidation from adults lead to the fact that a person sees only a threat in direct physical contact with strangers.
- Features of professional activity. Doctors, social workers and police are predisposed to the development of phobias. This is due to the fact that they have daily contact with people leading an antisocial lifestyle. The emerging reluctance to make tactile contact with clients is gradually spreading to all people.
- Puberty. This reason is relevant for teenage boys. Haptophobia hides the fear of an erection visible to the eye when touching a girl.
- Autism spectrum disorders in which there is a deficit in social communication skills. Autistic people are characterized by isolation in their inner world and a reluctance to contact other people.
- Coldness or indifference of parents, as a result of which the child is not accustomed to tactile contact.
- Disgust and fear of becoming infected with something.
- Asexuality. If hormonal levels are disrupted, any touching of a sexual nature causes strong negative emotions.
- Painful desire to protect personal space. Tactile contact is subconsciously perceived as a gross violation of the boundaries of the comfort zone.
- Personal beliefs and the presence of intolerance towards a certain group of people. For example, hostility towards representatives of another nationality or race, intolerance towards people who are overweight or have physical disabilities.
- Serious injury resulting from the careless actions of another person.
If you have diseases of the nervous system, obsessive-compulsive disorder or psychasthenia, the risk of developing haptophobia increases. Also, suspicious, distrustful and withdrawn people are predisposed to the formation of this phobia.
Fear of touching: how to get rid of it
First of all, a person must admit that he has haptophobia. After this, he must realize and accept the need for treatment.
Treatment measures are carried out based on the individual characteristics of the patient. During a personal conversation, the specialist determines the reasons why the phobia arose. In order for the fear of the touch of strangers to go away, sometimes it is simply enough to get rid of negative memories.
If the phobia is seriously advanced, then drug treatment and the use of antidepressants cannot be ruled out. To get rid of fear, psychologists advise doing yoga and partner dancing. Over time, you will enjoy contact with other people.
With this kind of phobia, patients often give up on their personal lives. To get rid of fear, you need regular sessions with a psychotherapist. If a person is taken out of his “comfort zone,” then he is no longer able to cope with the problem on his own.
Manifestation of haptophobia
Haptophobia can appear at any age. The risk of developing a phobia is the same in both sexes. Haptophobia is characterized by spontaneity. One day a person suddenly feels that the touches of other people are unpleasant or cause fear.
At the same time, tactile contact not only with strangers, but also with close relatives becomes undesirable. Anxiety disorder is not congenital, but acquired during life. In cultures where greeting kisses and hugs are common, haptophobia is less common.
With mild haptophobia, a person can force himself to endure the touch of loved ones, but tries to minimize contact. In the case of a severe form of the disorder, even with a slight touch, the patient may sharply recoil, withdraw his hand, or respond with aggression. Fear, hostility, and disgust are often reflected on the face of a haptophobe.
A person suffering from a phobia has an irresistible desire to wash the area of the body that has been touched. Tactile contact can provoke an attack of nausea, weakness in the body, trembling in the limbs. Being in a crowd can cause a panic attack.
Some haptophobes deliberately demonstrate hostility to tactile contact, indicating to the person touching that he has violated someone else's personal space without permission. It is this behavior of the patient that often offends his family and friends.
A person suffering from a phobia prefers clothes that hide the body as much as possible, avoids public places, does not use public transport, carefully monitors personal hygiene and always has a disinfectant with him. Haptophobes try to find a job that does not require even the slightest tactile contact with other people.
Going outside, meeting friends and visiting people require serious emotional preparation. Haptophobes prefer loneliness, even if it is very painful. When describing their sensations during tactile contact, people suffering from anxiety disorder divide touch into two types: burning and cold (which makes you shiver).
Sometimes, with haptophobia, intolerance to water and wind is observed, since when immersed in an aquatic environment or when the wind blows, sensations similar to touch occur.
Manifestation of haptophobia in children A child suffering from haptophobia may react to the touch of a stranger with the following forms of behavior:
- severe crying or hysterics,
- immobility,
- an attempt to hide behind a parent.
Treatment for touch phobia
If you are afraid of being touched by people around you, it is recommended to seek help from a specialist. You should not fight fear on your own. Lack of proper treatment can cause a deterioration in the patient’s psycho-emotional state.
During a conversation with the patient, the doctor tries to find out what circumstances in a person’s life could provoke the development of a phobia. When there is a suspicion of accessory, the patient is prescribed additional tests for hormones. In this situation, treatment will be carried out using drug therapy.
To suppress feelings of anxiety and aggression, patients are prescribed sedatives and have sessions with a psychotherapist. In severe forms of the pathological condition, treatment can be carried out using hypnosis.
Haptophobia and other phobias
Despite the fact that haptophobia in its manifestation may be similar to anthropophobia, fear of touch is an independent disorder. Haptophobe, unlike anthropophobe, is not afraid of a person as such and does not experience negative emotions as long as there is no tactile contact or the likelihood of its occurrence.
In some cases, haptophobia can be a symptom of mysophobia. With mysophobia, the patient regards the people around him only as carriers of various pathogenic microbes. Sometimes haptophobia can provoke a persistent fear of crowds - demophobia.
Symptoms of haptophobia
The fear of touch does not go unnoticed. People suffering from this disease cannot control themselves in the presence of others. The touches of loved ones and relatives become unbearable for them. They flinch at any attempt to touch them, cannot control their facial expressions and do not hide their displeasure about this. The most common physical symptoms are:
- trembling in the body;
- the appearance of cold sweat;
- hand tremors;
- breathing problems.
The attacks are accompanied by a surge of uncontrollable fear, which develops into a panic attack, during which the person begins to scream and cry. Quite often, this phobia arises as a result of the presence of other fears: fear of contracting some kind of infection or fear of sexual violence.
Treatment of haptophobia
This disorder requires treatment as it interferes with normal social contacts and reduces a person’s quality of life. Among the therapeutic methods used:
- cognitive behavioral therapy,
- exposure therapy,
- virtual reality therapy,
- visualization methods,
- work in a personal growth group,
- behavioral therapy.
If the patient is able to control his fear, then he may be recommended to visit crowded places every day, practice pair dancing, or other activities that involve tactile contact. According to some psychologists, haptophobia can be cured by placing the patient in a hostile environment, that is, in a crowd.
Haptophobia is a reason to check your hormonal levels. In case of hormonal disorder, hormonal therapy is carried out . For neuroses and psychasthenia, appropriate drug treatment is prescribed. If the patient is prone to depression, antidepressants may be prescribed.
What is haptophobia?
A mental disorder that is accompanied by a fear of tactile contact has several names:
- haptophobia;
- aphenfosmophobia;
- thixophobia.
Aladdinia is also a phobia, which is accompanied by a fear of being touched, but due to the fact that physical contact causes physical pain to a person.
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Regardless of what the fear of touch is called, it must be diagnosed in a timely manner, the cause of its origin must be determined, and all necessary measures must be taken to solve the psychological problem.
Aversion to touch as part of the culture
Singapore is the most comfortable place in the world for a person suffering from haptophobia . According to the law “On Offended Honor” adopted in the state, any groundless touching of a stranger is perceived as a violent act or as sexual harassment. A haptophobe will not have to fear a pat on the shoulder or an unwanted hug, since the initiator of tactile contact faces a serious fine.
In countries where Buddhism is the official religion, touching the top of the head is strictly prohibited. Such a gesture is regarded as an aggressive violation of the boundaries of a person’s personal space, because for a Buddhist, the top of the head is the habitat of the soul.
It is better not to go to South America for a person who cannot tolerate touching, since there it is impolite to avoid touching. And interlocutors can touch each other during a normal conversation.
How to identify a haptophobe
Fear of being touched by strangers is easily identified. Such individuals constantly keep their distance. They don't like to let people into their lives. It gets to the point where family relationships become more and more difficult. Such a person diligently avoids hugs; he does not want to communicate with his loved ones. Sexual relationships gradually cease, as they instill disgust and fear in the owner of the phobia.
Touch phobia makes a person more aggressive and irritable. When attempting physical contact, he reacts sharply, can shout at other people, hit them, if only his personal space has been violated. A haptophobe does not always do everything consciously. Such people wear closed clothes, try not to be in crowded places, and practically do not use public transport. Before going out into the world, they need to prepare themselves psychologically and emotionally.
The person himself may not understand that the phobia has long grown into a disease that interferes with normal life activities. In this case, haptophobia needs to be treated. Fear of being touched by strangers in some cases requires outside help, for example, you need to see a psychotherapist.
brief information
This is a rather specific phobia, internal fear carefully hidden from others. Psychologists also call this disease aphephobia. And although the name is slightly different, the essence remains the same - this is a reluctance to communicate and touch strangers. These manifestations should not be confused with such spiritual qualities as modesty and shyness. Fear prevents him from leading a full life, breaks his relationships with loved ones, prevents him from forming friendships, and hinders the development of professional interests, because even an ordinary handshake can upset the fragile mental balance and lead to a panic attack.
Residents of megacities often suffer from this phobia, because every day they have to deal with a huge number of strangers, crossing paths with them on public transport, meeting them in public places.
Residents of a metropolis find it difficult to avoid contact with each other
