Brittany S. Pierce is a nineteen year old girl who has been home schooled since primary school and until the end of high school.
She lives with her all-American mother, Susan Pierce, in Ohio. Her Dutch father left eight years ago after a huge fight with her mother. Yes, fight, as in throwing plates, cups, tables, chairs and anything else in sight. Brittany still has a scar on her neck from a plate that hit her.
All her life Brittany has suffered from a mental illness called Haphephobia, the fear of being touched or touching someone, the fear of human contact, but after the fight she witnessed between her parents it got worse.
It started when she was about seven, she wouldn't let strangers touch her. Then when she was around nine she wouldn't let friends or distant relatives touch her, if they did touch she would have a mini panic attack. When she was ten she wouldn't go near anyone except her mother and father. Then the fight happened. She was eleven. After her father left she wouldn't let anyone near her, including her mother. Her mother started to worry and ended up taking her eleven year old daughter to a therapist. It hasn't got worse since then but it has by no means gotten better.
When someone did touch her she would get dizzy and her hands would shake uncontrollably. Her heart rate would accelerate and she would experience lack of breath. She would hyperventilate and sometimes perspire. Basically, the closer the contact got the worse the reaction was.
Having this illness gets Brittany depressed. She can't help it. She wants to be able to give her mother a hug and have friends that she can hug and she wants to be able to have a girlfriend that she can kiss and hold hands with. But, to Brittany, that's all just wishful thinking.
Brittany sees a therapist twice a week about her problem but it doesn't seem to be working. She had tried many other types of treatment but nothing seems to help.
Brittany and her mother had talked about Brittany moving out and living alone but they didn't see that working so they decided that Brittany will stay with her mother until she was better, which they both know will never happen. Brittany knows she can't be cured but now she's lost all hope of getting even a little bit better.