Games are an entertaining way to expand your vocabulary, though we wouldn’t recommend learning a language through them. Whether it’s Misthios or Sekiro, the last few years have given us some intriguing words to grapple with, and Death Standing has added another with the news that protagonist Sam Porter Bridges suffers from Aphenphosmphobia. Want to know the meaning? We’ve got you covered.
What does Aphenphosmphobia mean in Death Stranding?
As well as being extremely difficult to pronounce, Aphenphosmphobia — more commonly known as Haphephobia — means the fear of being touched. You may have already figured it would be a fear of something thanks to the phobia suffix also found in terms like arachnophobia (fear or spiders) and technophobia (fear of new technology).
Many of us find it uncomfortable to be touched, especially by people that we don’t know very well, but those who suffer from Aphenphosmphobia or Haphephobia feel severe distress, panic or anxiety when touched or even thinking about the idea of being touched. Aphenphosmphobia can cause Nausea, sweating, dizziness, pain, hyperventilation to sufferers, making it a very unpleasant condition. Thankfully Aphenphosmphobia is a very rare condition, and treatments are available (depending on your country of residence) to help manage it.
In Death Stranding, Sam’s Aphenphosmphobia is used as part of the reason for his taking up the job of a porter, keeping him well away from most other people. It’ll also present some problems for him in the coming story, but we don't want to spoil them so we’ll let you reach those at your own pace as you play.
Want to learn about some other unusual gaming terms? Click the links below for a good old bit of knowledge!
Now that you know what Aphenphosmphobia means in Death Stranding, feel free to check out some of the other guides we have available. Keen to keep that data safe? Let us teach you how to save in Death Stranding.
