The fear of being touched (also known as aphephobia, haphephobia, haphophobia, hapnophobia, haptephobia, and haptophobia) is a rare specific phobia that involves the fear of touching or of being touched. A specific phobia is a generic term for any kind of Anxiety disorder that amounts to an unreasonable or irrational fear related to exposure to specific objects or situations 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. [1][2]
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. Sexual assault is any Assault of a sexual nature on another person 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. Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual acts by one person upon another [2][3]
References
- ^ John G. Robertson (2003). An Excess of Phobias and Manias. Senior Scribe Publications, 95. ISBN 096309193X.
- ^ a b John Birtchnell (1996). How Humans Relate: A New Interpersonal Theory. Psychology Press, 142. ISBN 0863774326.
- ^ Michel Dorais (2002). Don't Tell: The Sexual Abuse of Boys. McGill-Queen's Press — MQUP, 84. ISBN 0773522611.
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