Fear of being touched
The fear of being touched (also known as aphephobia,[1] haphephobia,[1][2] haphophobia,[2][3] hapnophobia,[2] haptephobia,[1][2] haptophobia,[1][2][3] thixophobia[1]) is a rare specific phobia that involves the fear of touching or of being touched. It is an acute exaggeration of the normal tendencies to protect one's personal space, expressed as a fear of contamination or of the invasion, and extending even to people whom its sufferers know well.[4][5]
Sometimes the fear is restricted specifically, or predominantly, to being touched by people of the opposite sex. In women, this is often associated with a fear of sexual assault. Dorais reports that many boys who have been the victims of sexual abuse have a fear of being touched, quoting one victim who describes being touched as something that "burns like fire", causing him to freeze up or to lash out.[5][6]
[edit] Portrayal in pop culture
In the 1962 movie David and Lisa, Keir Dullea portrays a teenager committed to a mental hospital for the treatment of aphephobia. While there, he falls in love with Lisa (Janet Margolin), and he begins to realize why he's been institutionalized.[7]
In the 2006 Carl Hiaasen novel, Nature Girl, the philandering Boyd Shreave feigns aphenphosmphobia to try to hide from his wife the real reason that he won't be intimate with her.
In the 2007 movie Numb, Matthew Perry portrays Hudson Millbank, a screenwriter who suffers from depersonalization disorder, clinical depression, and also a fear of being touched, which causes him to become anxious and twitchy in his leg.
Satellizer L. Bridgette from the 2011 anime Freezing reacts with extremely violent behavior whenever someone is in close proximity to or touches her. Her fear of being touched is attributed to years of constant abuse she suffered in childhood.
Numbuh 363 from the television series "Codename: Kids Next Door", is suspected to be afraid of the human touch.
Sachiko Ogasawara, from the anime "Maria-sama ga Miteru", is suspected to be afraid of the opposite sex touching her because of her disdain for men, caused by the many males of her family openly having multiple mistresses, unabashedly dividing their time between home and the women.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Charles Harrington Elster (1996). There's a Word for It!. Scribner. pp. 160. ISBN 0684824558.
- ^ a b c d e John G. Robertson (1991). Robertson's Words for a Modern Age. Senior Scribe Publications. pp. 213. ISBN 0963091913.
- ^ a b Laurence Urdang, Anne Ryle, Tanya H. Lee (1986). -ologies & -isms. Gale Research Co.. pp. 557. ISBN 0810311968.
- ^ John G. Robertson (2003). An Excess of Phobias and Manias. Senior Scribe Publications. pp. 95. ISBN 096309193X.
- ^ a b John Birtchnell (1996). How Humans Relate: A New Interpersonal Theory. Psychology Press. pp. 142. ISBN 0863774326.
- ^ Michel Dorais (2002). Don't Tell: The Sexual Abuse of Boys. McGill-Queen's Press — MQUP. pp. 84. ISBN 0773522611.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001158/bio
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