Characters with Haphephobia? Cure? Recovery?

[AGInkSlinger]

I have a character dealing with haphephobia (fear of being touched) and I can't find anything on how it's supposedly "cured" or how you can recover from it. Most of the time, writing the character isn't too hard since it's a phobia I have but since I want this character to at least recover from it, I'm running into a hurdle right now with the research.

Can anybody find any resources for me?

Thanks in advance!

[MichaelB]

Wow, there's actually suprisingly little information on the internet that I could find relating to overcoming a fear of being touched.

In my own non-professional opinion, I'd take a several-stage process involving discovering the root cause of the fear and discussing it/thinking about it, and then gradual desensitisation via controlled exposure to touch, for gradually longer and longer periods and over a larger area. Starting first at a less sensitive or vulnerable area like the back of the hand, and eventually working up to being comfortable with being touched on the shoulder.

However, all I could find on the net was that there are between 3 and 6 'steps', and if I apply today I could get a discount.

Good luck!

ETA: a truly immersive writer would pay for a course of treatment, but that's probably not an option for you, right?

[caraez]

Hmm.. I second Michael and add that since fears are in the mind, there are probably a lot of different realistic 'cures' your character could go through. And you could always take a little poetic license, especially since it's in the mind and stranger things have happened then a slightly inaccurate cure for a fear.

[Dwiesel McAllister]

How exactly are you planning to cure the character? If you are going for a hospital-type cure, I would recommend what Michael has suggested, adding some kind of reward or praise when said character tolerates a touch.

If you aren't looking for a hospital-type cure, maybe your character could have some kind of shock cure, like, s/he is touched for an extended period of time, under whatever circumstances you deem fit, and then, s/he is cured, because s/he has tolerated the thing that frightens him/her so. (sorry for the inconsistency!) The success of that cure would rely on the source of your character's fear, and how far gone it is. If it's a really deep-seated thing, s/he could regress even further into the phobic state.

It's been a year since I've taken any kind of psychology course, so I'm probably just making things up...

[MichaelB]

As much as I deny that I read them, (ahem) there are actually quite a few Harry Potter fanfictions that deal really sensitively and realistically with dealing with a fear of being touched. I'm sorry I can't give you links or titles to look for (remember, I don't read them), but it could be a good place to look for haphephobia in fiction.


Especially check stories labelled "Severitus".

[Thuriel]

Especially check stories labelled "Severitus".

There are many things Severitus stories provide good examples of*... I was not aware a fear of being touched was one of them. (I haven't read one in years, see, and that's not me being coy or anything.)

*Ick, grammar is awkward.