can haphephobia be cured?

Haphephobia involves a fear of touch. While uncommon, it is often a devastating phobia. It is in the class of phobias known as specific phobias, which are fears of a specific object or situation. If you have haphephobia, you fear being touched by anyone, although some people are only afraid of being touched by those of a different gender.

An irrational fear of someone touching you is unusual in that it is not particularly linked to other anxiety-related conditions such as social phobia (social anxiety disorder) or a fear of vulnerability or intimacy. Many people with haphephobia can form warm, tight bonds with others, although they may worry that those bonds are at risk due to their inability to show physical affection.

Haphephobia can be extremely difficult for strangers and people close to you to understand. The person offering the touch may feel rejected when you shy away.

The symptoms of haphephobia can vary in severity. Some people with this phobia may build enough trust to overcome their reactions with one or two specific people over a long period of time. And/or, they may tolerate touch that they initiate or give express permission for another person to initiate. Others remain uncomfortable with any form of touch at all.

If you have haphephobia, your reactions to encountering your trigger may be similar to those of people with other specific phobias.

You might:

People may also experience panic attacks that can be characterized by rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing, and a sense of impending doom.

Symptoms of a specific phobia frequently include avoidance. In cases of haphephobia, this can manifest as avoiding:

Haphephobia is not recognized as a distinct condition in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM-5). It would be diagnosed as a specific phobia (a phobia of a specific object or situation). In order to be diagnosed with this condition, your doctor will ask you questions about the nature, duration, and severity of your symptoms. They may also take a medical history, perform a physical, or conduct lab tests to help rule out other conditions.

The DSM-5 specifies that a specific phobia must:

Symptoms must also be present for at least six months and cannot be caused by another medical or mental health condition.

Before you can be diagnosed with this type of phobia, a doctor must first rule out other potential conditions that might be causing your symptoms. Conditions that may share some symptoms with haphephobia include:

A doctor would also rule out allodynia, which involves being hypersensitive to touch. In this case, people avoid being touched because they find it painful or overstimulating. Haphephobia can be related to sensory processing issues.

The exact causes of haphephobia are not known, but there are a number of factors that may play a role. Like other specific phobias, genetics, family history, experiences, and overall temperament can contribute to the development of a phobia.

Research suggests that women are twice as likely as men to experience specific phobias such as haphephobia. Having another type of phobia or mental health condition also increases the likelihood of developing a specific phobia. According to the DSM-5, 75% of people with specific phobias have more than one phobia.

More often, it seems to develop without any known cause. This is true for many cases of specific phobias. Most people who cannot trace their haphephobia to a specific event developed the fear in early childhood, but the triggering situation could occur at any time of life.

Fortunately, specific phobias are highly treatable. The rate of successful treatment for specific phobias is around 80% to 90%. A few different treatment options that are available include:

Antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications may sometimes be prescribed to help people manage the symptoms of specific phobias such as haphephobia. These medications are often most effective when used in conjunction with psychotherapy.

Exposure therapy is often recommended for the treatment of specific phobias. This treatment involves progressively exposing people to the thing that they fear while also practicing relaxation techniques. Eventually, the fear response begins to become less severe.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is another treatment often recommended for specific phobias. This type of therapy addresses the negative thoughts and distortions that contribute to the development and maintenance of phobias.

In addition to seeking treatment for your condition, there are also steps that you can take on your own that can make it easier to cope. Some of these include:

Couples or family therapy can help those you are closest to understand your fear and develop alternative ways of expressing their affection for you. Look for a therapist with whom you can develop trust and therapeutic rapport, and expect the process to take some time.

The fear of being touched can develop as a result of deeply traumatic experiences. Such reactions are understandable and treatment can help people cope with memories of the trauma as well as the symptoms of haphephobia.

• Exposure therapy: With this treatment, you gradually introduce a specific fear into your thoughts or life.
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): EMDR is often effective for people who have experienced trauma.

There's no one “cure” for haphephobia, but there are treatment options that can help you manage your condition.

Haphephobia is a type of anxiety disorder called a specific phobia. It can be diagnosed and treated by a mental health professional. This article will discuss the diagnosis, causes, and treatment options of haphephobia.

Haphephobia can create a large impact on your life. The symptoms of this condition depend on the severity and type of touch. It can be a deep feeling of fear or an extreme response that can cause disruptions in life.

Haphephobia is not the same as a sensitivity to touch that may be present in certain conditions (called allodynia) or a sensory processing disorder in which a person does not respond normally to stimuli.

People with this condition typically avoid any situation where they might be touched. This can cause extreme cases of isolation and fear, leading to conditions such as other anxiety and depressive disorders. When someone has an extreme feeling of anxiety or paralysis due to haphephobia, other physical symptoms may include the following:

Contact your healthcare provider if you have any of these symptoms or believe you have a phobia of any kind. They can help you with the next steps in getting treatment.

There is no exact number of how many people have haphephobia. Over 12% of adults in the United States have had a phobia at some point in their lives. Haphephobia would be diagnosed as a specific phobia or a phobia of a specific object or situation. This is a type of anxiety disorder.

You may first see your medical healthcare professional, who will ask about your overall health, any additional conditions, and family health history. They will also ask questions about your specific phobia symptoms. They may refer you to a mental health professional for diagnosis.

A mental health professional will assess you and apply criteria from the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM-5). The following criteria must be met before a person can be diagnosed with a phobia:

Along with the criteria, the symptoms must be present for a minimum of six months and can't be caused by another mental health condition.

The specific cause of haphephobia is not known. When phobias occur, it can be due to a number of factors such as genetics, past experiences, trauma, or a medical condition. It's common for people with a phobia to have more than one phobia.

Different treatment options can help patients cope with haphephobia. Your mental health professional will help you develop a plan that will help you with your condition. Some available treatments include the following:

Depending on the specific nature of the phobia, more patient-specific treatment options may take place.

Haphephobia is a fear of being touched. This may be due to a negative experience with being touched or witnessing others go through a traumatic experience. Treatment options, including talk therapy and exposure therapy, can help people with haphephobia overcome the fear of being touched.

One of the strangest and wired type of phobia is haphephobia. It is one of the rarest types of fear; it is a fear of being touched by someone. The person affected by this phobia has a determined and unexplainable fear that he or she would be touched by someone.

The name of haphephobia is derived from the Greek word “haphe” that mean touch. A person getting this disease can immediately get a horror attack that he or she is being touched by someone. There are some special cases of this phobia in which the person is only scared to get touched by the opposite gender. A haphephobic person can perform his or her basic daily schedule and can also make a healthy relationship with other people. However, they still have a fear of being touched by the partner or friends.

Haphephobia or fear of being touched is broadly caused due to the following reasons:

Signs and symptoms of haphephobia or fear of being touched in people are:

If you are suffering from haphephobia or fear of being touched and if you meet with any other person suffering from some other phobia then you may see that both of your reaction that triggers phobia is more or less same.

Symptoms of phobia often lead to avoidance, in the case of haphephobia or fear of being touched this can lead to:

The person with haphephobia might avoid from getting out of their room and so they isolate themselves. This can disturb their professional and as well as the personal life. During such a condition a professional health worker of mental must be consulted. If the symptoms persist for a period more than six months, then visiting a doctor is highly recommended.

The factors that increase your risk of haphephobia or fear of being touched is:

Haphephobia or fear of being touched is a very serious issue, although it may seem silly to others, but it has a very demoralizing effect on the person who has it and get affected in many aspects of daily lifestyle, such as:

The haphephobia or fear of being touched has no tests for diagnosing it. Rather the diagnosis process includes the clinical interview and diagnostic guidelines. The doctor will get in direct observation over there he or she will be asking some certain question about the symptoms and then the doctor will ask for the medical and as well as the social history.

The haphephobia or fear of being touched could be made into control by a combination of psychotherapies and the medicine intake.

If you have fears without any reason, then you should consult with the psychologist moreover, if you have any children, then this step should be taken early enough for prevention. As the genetics play a role in the encouragement of getting haphephobia or fear of being touched. By dealing with the fears within you, it may be possible that your children might not get the same disorder.

The professional treatment is the one that can help you to overcome your haphephobia or fear of being touched and manage it in an efficient way so that you do not become a prisoner to your own fear. To cope and care for yourselves, you can take some of the steps: