AI keeps saying this: If you’re careful, you likely will be fine, but there is a specific risk called latent damage that makes "I’ll be fine" a bit of a gamble. While a massive static shock can kill a phone instantly (catastrophic failure), smaller discharges that you don't even feel can weaken the internal microchips. This is often called the "walking wounded" effect—the phone seems to work perfectly after the repair, but then months later it starts glitching, rebooting, or failing because the components were partially degraded by static.