Phobia Of Being Touched
Some people do not like you to touch them. At its most acute, this dislike of human contact can become fear. It is a phobia of being touched and there are many reasons you might develop it.
Meeting a new person, most of us shake hands. Or introduce ourselves in some way. But for many of us, these simple gestures can be nerve-racking and embarrassing. If you have a fear of being touched, you feel uncomfortable if someone tries to shake your hand or pat you on the shoulder.
Some people develop a dislike of being hugged by their partners or children. And in the past, the ability to communicate was a matter of life and death. Our ancestors had no way to communicate their wants and needs without the use of touch. The fear of being touched is an atavism.
There are various reasons an individual may develop this type of phobia. But the most common reason is that they have a strong fear of people touching them. In ways that they find uncomfortable.
This fear can vary from individual to individual. In some cases, it can be caused by a traumatic experience. In other instances, it can be caused by the presence of certain things in their surroundings. The fear of being touched phobia can be powerful.
The phobia of touch can be intense for some people. It can paralyze them from acting. In some cases, it has been shown that a person who suffers from agoraphobia will avoid contact with people that they would have frequent interaction with. They will hold off and spend time on their own. This can mean the person will not leave their home.
It can be the result of their upbringing too. Many cases have been brought forth where a young child is introduced to a new object or situation and they become afraid of it. It is common for young children to become afraid of animals when they are introduced to them.
Common phobias can develop for various reasons. The main reason someone would develop a specific phobia of touch is that they have a deep fear of rejection. Rejection is something that we all have experienced at some point in our lives.
The fear of rejection can become magnified if you happen to meet a person that you are not comfortable with. This can lead to you becoming cautious about your interactions with other people. You may not want to be touched or you may be afraid of being embarrassed or ridiculed. These types of scenarios can lead to you being self-conscious about harmless things.
A phobia of being touched can cause you to have extreme levels of anxiety about your entire body. You will worry about being touched on your body. Many times this will result in you avoiding any type of contact with other people. A person may not realize that their phobia has gotten out of control until it is too late. It can result in a panic attack and extreme fear.
But there are ways to help yourself. We will explore some of them.
The Latin name for the phobia of being touched is Chiraptophobia. You can call it Haphephobia. This fear can leave sufferers feeling alone and isolated. It is a common anxiety disorder that affects millions of people. It is triggered by physical touch. And can range from minor discomfort to complete avoidance of human contact.
You can categorize touch as either intrusive or avoidable. Intrusive touch is any touch that is unwelcome. Such as someone brushing past you in a crowded street. Or someone taking your arm and leading you. Avoidable touch is any touch that you can avoid, such as shaking hands with someone or being hugged.
What are the symptoms of Haphephobia?
There is a core set of symptoms. These are common to most people. If you are thinking about being touched and you feel intense anxiety symptoms. You do everything in your power to avoid anyone touching you. You find it is impossible to live a normal life because of the anxiety symptoms in severe cases.
You know your fears are not normal or realistic but you cannot control your anxiety symptom. Your mind is powerful and you can bring on these feelings by thinking about being touched or some traumatic event.
Friends and family will expect cuddles, pats on the back, and other displays of emotions. If you are afraid of being touched you will appear detached.
People will seem remote to everyone around them. This fear will extract a high price on a phobic person’s social life. It may cause professional damage. You do hand-shaking and other routine sorts of contact in the world of industry.
This can be a big problem. If you have difficulty shaking hands, people will think you are rude or lacking refinement. This difficulty could hinder your advancement at work.
Reasons Why You Are Afraid Of Being Touched
Many reasons explain someone developing the phobia of being touched. One reason people develop Chiraptophobia is that they experienced physical abuse in the past.
Youngsters or adults can develop Chiraptophobia. They develop Chiraptophobia because they experienced touching, in sexual or non-sexual ways. Violence and pedophilia are an example of a break of trust and brutality. These incidents leave their mark on an individual. He will become terrified of someone touching him.
They associate all human contact with the abuse they experienced.
Autism and Chiraptophobia:
Some adults and kids with autism will not like you to touch them. This will have an impact on their lives. Autism is a form of neurodevelopmental disorder.
Autism comes with the inability to empathize with other people and form social bonds. As a result, people with autism remain isolated. And in extreme cases might not be able to communicate with others. But, autistic people are talented in a particular area. For example, some are geniuses in mathematics. Others have incredible musical skills, while others have outstanding artistic talents.
Character Anomalies And Being Touched:
Some character anomalies can harm intimate contact. Schizoid personality types will keep from others because of their disorder. People with Avoidant Character Disorder will avoid human contact. Both of them will have an isolated approach to life, and they may fear you touching them.
Signs Of Phobia of Being Touched:
Someone with this fear avoids someone if they attempt to get close. They experience distress and nervousness during medical or dental exams because touching is vital.
Dependent on the person’s age, they may cry or try to leave thinking you will touch them. Some individuals that have suffered adolescent pedophilia will experience this unusual phobia
They describe the sense of being touched as a “burning” sensation. It is upsetting and terrifying to them. Panic symptoms may surface because Chiroptophobia sufferers fear contact with anyone. A sufferer may feel woozy spells, heart agitation, intense fear, and feel a sense of doom.
Why Do These Symptoms Happen?
Each human being treasures their private space. If someone invades our private space, we will feel violated. The person who fears you touching them takes this natural action to an unhealthy extreme. People fight to keep and protect their private space.
They do this beyond what everybody would consider normal. People may feel they wish to strike out at anyone that threatens their safety through touching. We can say people have a phobic disorder. This is an irrational fear and not a specific fear of something..
Treatment For The Fear Of Being Touched:
Psychoanalysis can help somebody with the fear of being touched. Most times, the individual might be a victim of unwanted physical contact. An example might be sexual abuse. Finding professional care is important to help with sexual intimacy and human touch.
Search for a medical expert. A trained professional will help you discuss the problems of the past.
Using Hypnotherapy For Social Anxiety
Hypnotherapy allows you to suppress or erase your fear of touching by using the power of suggestion. It does not work for everybody. It is a type of psychotherapy that uses hypnosis to change the way people think, behave, and feel. In some cases, it can be used to treat anxiety. Hypnotherapy is also used to treat social anxiety.
Hypnotherapy is using hypnosis to help individuals gain control over parts of their lives and environments that cause them anxiety. Hypnotherapy is like psychotherapy with no talking. The client is in a state of deep relaxation and is encouraged to imagine and work through situations that are causing him or her anxiety.
You should consider it if fear is causing problems during the process of everyday life. The fear of someone touching you is like a social phobia. But, the reasons are different. With a social anxiety disorder, you dislike being around people. You avoid places and crowds and any social situation.
Social phobic disorder causes you lots of stress. This stress affects your quality of life in all areas. You fear someone touching you, the anxiety you feel can be high. Like social phobia, the fear of someone touching you can impact your life in a negative way. Both phobias you can treat in similar ways.
Professional help is good as a place to start. Hypnosis allows you to relax quickly. Hypnosis makes it easier to start to change the way you think about social situations. Hypnosis helps you to focus on the positive and not on the negative.
Types of Treatment For Chiraptophobia and Social Anxiety
Treatment will depend on the person. There are many alternative forms of treatment that you can try. Cognitive behavioral therapy changes the way somebody thinks. You learn to respond in a different way about someone who touches you. This therapy makes it simpler for you to accept someone touching you.
Shock or exposure therapy works to deaden the individual’s response to triggers. Social or group treatment helps to make a warm, comforting environment. This cognitive therapy shows the person not everyone will hurt them. Medicine is available to help you treat your tension in these scenarios. All these treatments will help you with your phobia of being touched.
Anti-anxiety or anti-depressant medicine will help with any physical symptom. You may take them on a routine, or in a panic episode. On a related topic, medicines are available to treat other panic episode symptoms.
You could develop chest tightness coupled with sore shaking limbs. Keep in touch with your physicians. Don’t stop taking any medication until your doctor tells you to stop or reduce it.
You may develop withdrawal side effects. Ask about them as drug therapy may worsen certain symptoms. There are alternatives you can use. Make sure you keep an open mind. These are some of the ways to help overcome the phobia of being touched.
