... only be damaged by applying voltages over +5vdc or any negitive voltage.
This is a general misconception found in many places. Chip designers have done their best that CMOS circuits will no longer suffer when touched by a human finger loaded with 10 kilovolts.
The compensating current flows through protection diodes into the power supply (or into ground when negative).
However those diodes have now become the weak spot. they are genarlly rated for some 100 uA and would definitely suffer above 1mA. The designer generally uses resistors to reduce that current, not to reduce (harmless) voltage.