Table of contents:
- What is haphephobia?
- What causes someone to fear being touched?
- Symptoms are a phobia of touch
- What can be done to overcome phobias
Various kinds of strange and unreasonable fears exist in this world, one of which is hapephobia. This strange phobia is a rare type because it makes a person afraid of being touched by other people. A person who has hapephobia is constantly afraid of someone's touch. Let's look at the explanation about haphephobia.
What is haphephobia?
Haphephobia is a fear and anxiety that can severely interfere with the life of a person who has it, triggered by touch. Patients usually look anxious, uncomfortable, sweaty, and even panic if they are touched by other people. Can not just anyone can touch it. This happens because touch is considered to enter or violate his privacy space.
People with this phobia may experience traumatic events, which usually occur in victims of abuse or physical violence in the past so that they cause negative responses when experiencing touch, even if it's just a casual clap.
What causes someone to fear being touched?
Like most phobias, real-life trauma takes place at some time in a person's life (perhaps in their past) and triggers an exaggerated fear response. Since the human brain is mostly busy making associations during its lifetime, touching or being touched is associated with something very unpleasant in the haphephobic mind. This could be because they have been victims of gruesome rape, assault, or abuse that causes them to fear being touched.
In some cases, the response may be disgust when touched. This can be the problem of people wanting to have tight personal space and feeling afraid if someone violates their privacy boundaries. You can find it in some cases in people with autism.
Symptoms are a phobia of touch
- Fear and anxiety if there is a touching gesture from another person
- Fear of coming into contact with the opposite sex
- Avoid crowds and groups of people or groups
- The existence of a panic attack with several physical signs such as increased heart rate, chills, sweating, fainting, vomiting.
What can be done to overcome phobias
As we know there are many types of phobias. The most popular treatment for phobias is to see a psychologist, psychiatrist, hypnotherapist. Hypnotists can also try to help people overcome phobias or understand what is causing the problem so that it can be resolved.
With the help of a trained specialist, the patient will be transformed subconsciously. When the subconscious opens, it has the potential to find problems that trigger their phobias, and introduce new ideas and positive suggestions. That positive suggestion can then be used to help make the desired changes, one of which is overcoming the fear of touch.
