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Haptodysphoria

It relates to the uncomfortable sensation one gets when touching soft things, like cotton balls or peach fuzz. I just love that a word exists for such a feeling; also, I often experience haptodysphoria, and it’s nice to have a word to describe it.

ajb
Bryn Mawr

29 comments to Haptodysphoria

  • Natnie

    There’s a word for it! Oh my god!! I can’t stand velvet/peaches/suede/microfibre… anything with tiny soft fuzz. It just makes my blood run cold.

  • kari627

    i never knew there was a word for that. now im glad i know whats it called i hate that feeling.

  • ShayAndrews

    Is there a similar word for the unpleasant sensation I get from touching bread crust and certain fabrics with similar textures?

  • davidjeanne

    Does this apply to really dry snow too? I hate the feeling of dry snow under foot… it gives me the creeps…

  • Ms. Donna

    I am 60 years old and cannot touch peaches or kiwi. I
    would buy them for my family by placing several plastic
    bags over my hands and placing the fruit in the bags then
    finally turn them inside out. At home I would dip the
    peaches into boiling water to get the fuzzies off then
    peel (always with rubber gloves on) and hold the kiwi and
    peel them fast.. again with gloves. My grandson was given a money bank that had the most wicked fuzzy stuff
    on it when he was little. He loved it. It freaked me out!
    Now I will tell my green-grocer that I would like him to choose these items for me and to bag them because I have ‘ haptodysphoria’–He’ll go ” What???” I will look at
    him pitifully and say ” you shouldn’t really ask…..”

  • [...] the web of words is when I finally found quite by accident (I happened upon a great site called My Favorite Word) a word for the uncomfortable feeling my husband gets when he touches velvet (a big issue around [...]

  • Maryanne

    To touch peaches,cotton (or esp. wool) doesn’t bother me; with me it’s visual. If I focus on any of these, My teeth feel creeped out, so I guess I qualify as visually “Haptodysphoric” (or a quasi-”Haptodysphoron”?)

  • Kirari

    Yay!
    Im glad to of found a word to describe ehat happens when i touch tissues or cotton wool eeep it makes me go crazy and feels so weired

  • Jason

    You guys are all weird!!!!

  • Tiffany

    Is there a word for those of us who absolutely love the feel of the fuzz. Those of us who want to keep something fuzzy in our pockets to rub, who wear socks made of the stuff? It’s a sick addiction, but I have found others out there- most of us love to spin wool into yarn- and make items of clothing from it so that we can get that fuzzy fix throughout our day. I get that feelingin my teeth too, but I like it.

  • Trevor Helm Campbell

    Maybe Haptodysphiliac?

  • LMP

    Errr… not quite.

    “An unpleasant sensation derived from touching certain objects”

    It’s not just peaches or fuzzy objects, it’s any class of objects – some of y’all hate fuzz… some of us can’t stand dry stuff like chalk dust or dirt.

  • bailey

    OMG! Finally found out what I hate! Oh, and sometimes haptodysphoria can also mean more than just peach skin, in some dictionaries it says “an odd sensation felt by people who are afraid of touching types of surfaces” which is me. I’m not exactly afraid of touching fuzzy stuff, but I started to be afraid of fuzzy fruits after I got a splinter from a fuzzy cucumber. (Sounds weird, I know!) The thing I hate most though is touching certain rough surfaces. I really can’t explain it, it’s weird. Maybe if I touch a rock surface it won’t bother me at all, but if I touch somethinge like the edge of cardboard paper, I start getting this weird feeling, and I shiver all the way down to my toes.

  • T-rent

    I feel vindicated, my wife always gives me crap about this. Is there a support group? I know a handful of people who have this, perhaps we should get together once a week and we can all wear canvas socks and gloves.

  • Iceprincess009

    Hm. I guess that explains the feeling I get that I can’t breathe when I touch very fine dust or powder such as flour, or fuzziness.

  • esi

    Ive always thought my favorite words were poppysmic and juxtapose, until i met this one. I love how english has a word for every situation and feeling- especially haptodysphoria!

  • nolan

    @Maryanne: I HAVE THAT TOO!! like when people suck on their cotton shirts, it just gives me the most unpleasant feeling like “gritty” or “fibery” grinding between someones teeth.. idk just nasty.. oh and when people serve sno cones in that soggy paper cone.. when the soggy paper touches my teeth, i just flip. its nauseating.

  • rachel Ponder

    Finally! Now i know why i get the shivers when i touch cotton balls and use chalk! The sound they make is just horrible, along with the feeling of them. ugh, just thinking about it is giving me shivers!

  • asha

    Check out the book, Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight. It’s about how we process incoming sensory information, how it can go a bit awry when there is a challenge integrating it, but it’s not so pronounced as to be labeled Sensory Integrative Dysfunction. It explains why some don’t and some do like fuzzy things as well as other sensations.

  • Justine

    Wow! I thought it was just me!! Again, it feels great to have a word for it. Even watching people touch stuff like it give’s me the shudders. Nails on the back of car seats is the worst! My sisters used to drive me crazy with it!

  • Fawn

    Wow…no way? Finally I am not the only person that this ails…well not ails…but drives me completely out of my gourd!!!! Now…one last thing…Does anyone know why the sight of those halogram sticker thingys, the ones that move on the sticker…well just the sight of that material makes me want to hurl. If I were to ever touch it, I would most likely fall over…dead. It is troubling.

  • Fat_Cat

    The thing I can’t stand is pulling wool through my teeth! Just typing this is sending shivers down my spine.

  • Ruby

    I have a problem that hass been with me for a while now and sometimes it gets really bad. If something Cottony Touches me i shiver or if i put my bare feet on the bottom sheet on my bed i shiver, So i have to wear Socks to bed. Also if i see someone Ironing and it makes a noise i shiver, and have to walk away, I get really het up and angry about it too. Can Someone Help?

  • Rek

    I feel really weired touching paper bags or anything rough. Is it the same thing? Can it be cured?

  • Jennifer

    I’ve always had a problem with paper bags and uncoated cardboard. Now, since I recently moved, my hands dried out from touching all the boxes (I was shivering like the entire time we were moving) and it is so much worse. I can’t even touch my kids homework papers now, and trying to read my college books is a nightmare! It’s gotten so bad even my feet are getting in on the fun, I can’t walk on my concrete laundryroom floor anymore without slippers or socks. I’m starting a new job next week and I don’t want this to affect my new position…Someone please help!

  • Whitney

    Mine is so bad just reading this post gave me the hebejebees, I cant stand to touch or think about cotton or ceramic that is not glazed or Styrofoam Touching or hearing or using a Styrofoam cup make my body and teeth feel chills in my entire body i am glad there is a word for it!!!

  • Nick

    Weird to find so many people with the same reactions. For me it’s primarily cotton wool, it’s dryness and texture races shivers through my body and I feel shrivelled/curled up inside. I find I have to lick and rub my fingertips to compensate, if not stick them under a tap!
    Dryness reaction does seem to be a theme to what generates the response but only in a texture/material way.
    Luckily this hypersensitivity doesn’t impact very heavily in my life as I try to keep well away from cotton wool!
    :-)

  • Mat

    My brother and I both suffer with this, to the point where we some times have to wet/ lick our toes to put our socks on. I now have a 6 month old and have managed to control it enough to use cotton wool, I still dont like it tho.

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