Haptophobia

Habitual life for a haptophobe is a nightmare. Traveling in transport, communicating with new people, working in a team and even personal relationships are unpleasant for them with possible touches that cause fear and panic.

What is hapophobia

The term haptophobia is a group of phobic disorders, the basis of which is a pathological fear of touching people – who are not familiar to you and even close, relatives. This phobia can also be called by other terms – thixophobia, aphephobia, haphophobia.

Such people constantly try to maintain a distance from others. Any attempts to touch are perceived acutely – this is an invasion of the comfort zone with a violation of personal boundaries. Sometimes, under the guise of this phobia, other disorders may be present – the fear of contracting any diseases from contacts or the fear of intimate intimacy.

Hapophobia is a collective term, it refers to the fear of being touched by any people. Tactylophobia is the fear of being touched by strangers. But often these words are considered synonymous.

Causes of haptophobia in adults

Such a phobia is quite complex and rare, and its causes can be various reasons:

• neurological diseases, mental disorders (neurosis, depression, psychosis, asthenia, obsessions);
• disorders in intellectual development (autism, mental retardation);
• puberty, if the teenager is suspicious, squeamish or shy, worries about body reactions (spontaneous erection in young men);
• personality traits (introverts, people who do not like interference in personal space);
• pathological mania for cleanliness and disgust (upon contact, they immediately wash their hands, take a shower, clean the house);
• lack of sexual desire (asexuality), in which people do not need and even feel unpleasant to touch;
• racist, Nazi beliefs bordering on fanaticism;
• experienced violence or abuse (to a child or an adult).

Symptoms of haptophobia in adults

Based on the form and severity of the phobic disorder, the patient may be afraid of the touch of both all people and their individual groups – of the opposite sex, with a different skin color, unfamiliar to him, with certain features of appearance.

Any touch provokes a start, a cry or a sharp reaction, with an expression of disgust, fear or horror. Patients themselves describe their sensations from such touches as burning or chilling, from which the body literally trembles. In addition, somatic reactions are possible, which only aggravate the condition:

• strong heartbeat, pressure surges;
• trembling of the limbs or the whole body;
• nausea, discomfort, abdominal cramps;
• a feeling of lack of air, suffocation, uneven breathing;
• dizziness.

Another very specific symptom of haptophobia is an obsessive desire to wash the part of the body that was touched or wipe it with napkins, aggression due to intense fear and discomfort in the body, pushing people away, refusing any help if you need to touch a person. In severe cases, panic attacks or short-term fainting occur.

With a neglected form of haptophobia, reactions occur even from wind, clothing pressure, and water ingress. The appearance of the haptophobe is quite typical – it is closed clothing to minimize touch. Such people avoid traveling in transport, standing in lines, and refuse to contact people.

From the outside, it may seem that a person is contemptuous or squeamish, rude or pathologically shy, not well-mannered. People may not take such a phobia seriously, considering it a personality trait.

Treatment of haptophobia in adults

Without treatment, these types of phobias can progress, leading to social isolation, so you need to contact a specialist.

Diagnostics

With such problems, a detailed examination of a doctor is necessary, because such a phobia can also hide more serious mental disorders – paranoid, schizophrenia, psychosis or agoraphobia. In addition, it is necessary to distinguish between personality traits and signs of a phobia.

Modern treatments

Usually, a psychotherapist helps people with a pathological fear of touch. He practices psychotherapy methods – individually, working out every possible cause of fear. The doctor talks with the patient about his fears, anxiety, trying to find the cause of the phobia. He evaluates the emotions that arise from touch. Sessions can use visualization, the representation of the most frightening moments. Then tolerance is formed – resistance to fear.

In addition, some medications can be additionally used in the treatment. They are usually recommended for those people whose pathology develops against a background of neurosis or psychosis. Drugs reduce anxiety, normalize sleep, calm nerves. Most often, sedatives, antipsychotics or antidepressants are used.

If a correction of the hormonal background is needed, an endocrinologist may be involved in the management of the patient.

Prevention of haptophobia in adults at home

The basis for the prevention of haptophobia is the exclusion of traumatic situations, the upbringing of children without physical violence, the formation of a healthy environment in the family.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about the possible complications of haptophobia, how to treat it and the possibility of using alternative therapy with psychotherapist Alexander Pyatnitsky.