The healing benefits of hugging- 21 reasons why hugs are good for you!
Why is touch, particularly hugging, good for you?
Hugging is one of the most prominent ways to show affection to those we love. A hug promotes closeness and intimacy and is a healthy way to show people how much we care about them. But according to research, there’s much more to hugging than the cozy and comforting feeling we get when we hold someone we care about tightly in our arms.
Studies have shown that humans need to be touched to thrive and survive, and lack thereof can be detrimental to our physical and mental health.
Depending on your cultural upbringing, personal preference, or experience, hugging might not be your thing. However, the scientific benefits of hugging are truly remarkable.
Hugs have various meanings depending on the type of hug. And if you weren’t aware, yes, they are different styles of hugs. Nonetheless, no matter how you choose to embrace someone, there are significant benefits to giving and receiving hugs.
Why are hugs good for you?
Before we dive into the benefits of hugging, you must understand a little about the hormone called oxytocin. Oxytocin, also known as the love and cuddle hormone, is what makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Hugging is good for you because when you hug someone, it triggers the release of multiple feel-good hormones, including oxytocin.
Most hugs are quick and last from 5 to 10 seconds, but during a good tight squeeze that lasts at least 20 seconds, oxytocin is triggered and released.
Why is Oxytocin important?
As social beings, oxytocin is essential for healthy development. Oxytocin promotes bonding between parents and children and fosters trust. Thus, this hormone has a tremendously positive impact on infants’ development.
Harry Harlow, an American psychologist, performed an experiment that gave baby rhesus monkeys a choice between two different mothers. One was made of cloth with no food supply. The other was made of wire but with a food source.
Harlow removed the baby monkeys from their biological mothers a few hours after birth and left them with the pretend mothers.
The experiment indicated that the monkeys chose to stay with the cloth mothers for hours, cuddling.
Although the study was highly controversial and unethical because it deprived those baby rhesus monkeys of contact with their biological mothers, it concluded that the baby monkeys chose to be comforted by the cloth pretend mother because it fostered closeness and affection.
In the same way, the chemical oxytocin also encourages social bonding between friends and romantic partners to each other!
21 reasons why hugs are good for you
1) Hugs fight off the feeling of loneliness
Hugging has been directly proven to fight the feeling of loneliness. Research shows that loneliness significantly increases the risk for premature mortality and can be as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, having alcohol use disorder, and twice as damaging to physical and mental health as obesity.
2) Hugging reduces stress
Hugs reduce stress by lowering cortisol levels, the stress hormone in your body.
Hugging also lowers your blood pressure and raises oxytocin, a calming hormone that reduces stress and strengthens feelings of connection.
3) Hugs strengthen your immune system
Oxytocin protects against stress. Your immune system functions better when you have lower stress levels, leaving you more equipped to fight against infectious diseases.
A 2014 study from Carnegie Mellon University tested whether hugs act as a form of social support protected stressed individuals from getting sick.
In this study, 404 healthy adults were intentionally exposed to the common cold virus. The results found were that social support and more frequent hugs protected subjects from increased vulnerability to infection associated with being stressed, resulting in less severe sickness symptoms.
So, yes! Hugs can lower your stress levels and reduce your chances of getting sick!
4) Balances the nervous system
5) Hugs help improve confidence and self-esteem
6) Hugs increase trust
7) Hugs express concern and sympathy
Hugs can be used to show concern and sympathy for friends and loved ones.
8) Hugs makes you feel good and loved
When you’ve had a bad day and feeling discouraged, a good hug makes you feel good and, most importantly, loved.
9) Hugging promotes calm
10) Hugs counteract depression
Hugs release endorphins that counteracts depression.
11) Hugs reduce anxiety
Hugs help muscle tension, a symptom of anxiety.
12) Hugs fight against insomnia
Hugging reduces stress hormones, making you sleep better at night!
13) Hugs make you feel safe and assure you that everything will be okay
14) Hugs and cuddles impact how babies grow
15) Hugs make you happy
Hugging releases the hormone dopamine, known for regulating emotional health and happiness.
16) Hugs fights off depression and improve overall mood
Serotonin is a chemical in the brain that regulates anxiety, happiness, and mood. Some people naturally lack this feel-good chemical, resulting in irritability and low mood, common symptoms of depression. Hugs improve serotonin levels making you happier.
17) Decrease the risk of heart disease
Oxytocin has been shown to decrease the risk of heart disease. Hugging causes receptors in your skin to stimulate the vagus nerve. This nerve triggers the release of oxytocin, which sends a message to your body that it’s time to relax, lowering the stress hormones cortisol and norepinephrine.
Your heart rate and blood pressure decrease when this happens, calming you down.
18) Help alleviate fear
Hugging helps alleviate fear even when it’s inanimate objects. Imagine your child holding tightly to their “teddy” or another stuffed animal in an uncomfortable situation.
19) Hugging fights off pain
20) Fights against aging
21) Lastly, couples who hug often tend to be happier in their relationship and have a stronger connection.
the power of hugging
Hugging can be used as a powerful way to communicate our feelings to one another. And according to science, it is beneficial for both the giver and receiver because it releases three powerful hormones, oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin, essential in regulating emotional health, happiness, and overall well-being.
Of course, ask for permission before hugging someone, but now more than ever, when more than 3 in 5 (61 percent) of Americans identify as lonely, there’s never been a more perfect time to engage in the common practice of hugging.
21 Reasons Why Hugs Are Good For You
Hugs are a power heal too that we have to offer and often we don’t do. Especially this pandemic time we all need a hug. My birthday this year I didn’t get like how I wanted. 😭
I’ve always found hugs to be so comforting. While we can’t exactly hug or close friends in the current times, I make a point to give my mom a hug everyday. (We live in the same household)