This Blog Post is based on this article and my own experience
The science is in. Touch can help reduce stress, engender trust and teamwork, improve our happiness, and improve our health. Most other primates spend 10-20% of their days grooming each other, and in other countries (like France) friends talking in coffee houses touch each other 2-3 times per minute! Here in North America we rarely bond through touch, but this research suggests that it would be hugely beneficial to find ways to do so.
As someone who greatly enjoys touch yet is uncomfortable with a significant amount of touch with anyone other than my partner, I find this a significant challenge, so I invite you to share your ideas about how we can inject a healthy amount of touch into our lives individually and collectively.
Here are some notable quotes from the article:
“There are studies showing that touch signals safety and trust, it soothes. Basic warm touch calms cardiovascular stress.”
“preterm newborns who received just three 15-minute sessions of touch therapy each day for 5-10 days gained 47 percent more weight than premature infants who’d received standard medical treatment.”
“In a study by Jim Coan and Richard Davidson, participants lying in an fMRI brain scanner, anticipating a painful blast of white noise, showed heightened brain activity in regions associated with threat and stress. But participants whose romantic partner stroked their arm while they waited didn’t show this reaction at all. ”
“NBA basketball teams whose players touch each other more win more games”
Proper uses of touch truly have the potential to transform the practice of medicine—and they’re cost effective to boot. For example, studies show that touching patients with Alzheimer’s disease can have huge effects on getting them to relax, make emotional connections with others, and reduce their symptoms of depression.
“when teachers pat students in a friendly way, those students are three times as likely to speak up in class”
“when librarians pat the hand of a student checking out a book, that student says he or she likes the library more—and is more likely to come back.”
As usual, feel free to leave your comments. I am also interested in having a few phone discussions about this as I find this helps with learning and coming up with new ideas!
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