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Fear of being touched

The fear of being touched (also known as aphephobia, haphephobia, haphophobia, hapnophobia, haptephobia, and haptophobia^{[citation needed]}) 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.^[1]^[2]

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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.^[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.