People are starving for physical touch as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage on, and it’s beginning to take a real toll on physical and mental health.
With lockdowns, school closures and stay-at-home orders, many of us have not shaken hands or hugged another person in weeks, sometimes months.
Earlier this year, a survey found that more than three in five Americans are lonely, reporting feelings of being left out and and lacking companionship.
And while social media and socially distanced get-togethers can help people feel more connected, scientists say there is no replacement for touch.
Scientists say people are starving for physical touch after not seeing family or friends for weeks or months. Pictured: A medical worker hugs a COVID-19 survivor outside NYU Langone Health hospital in New York City, May 29
Loneliness has been linked to many health issues including heart disease and high blood pressure as well as raising levels of stress hormones. Pictured: Family members hug Isaias Perez Yanez (center), 59, as he is released from Sharp Coronado Hospital after battling COVID-19 for five weeks in Coronado, California, May 8
Humans are known to be social creatures. We crave togetherness – to be surrounded by friends and share our personal experiences with others. In fact, it’s been a key to our survival.
‘We benefit by hearing “I love you” or a smile or interacting with people in non-tactile ways,’ Dr Kory Floyd, a professor at the University of Arizona who studies the communication of affection, told Insider.
‘But when we have the ability to be in physical contact, to touch, hold hands, hug, kiss – that’s another whole category of mental and physical health benefits such that everything else we do is an imperfect substitute.’
Loneliness has been associated with a number of health problems. It can affect mood disorders and trigger depression, but it has also been linked to heart disease, higher blood pressure, immunity function, and nervous system disorders.
A 2015 review study showed that both actual and perceived social isolation increased our chances of dying early by 26 percent.
In the UK and the US, approximately one in three people older than 65 live alone and, in America, half of those older than 85 live alone.
In both countries, studies show that loneliness in people older than 60 can reach as high as 46 percent. Because the ‘baby boomer’ population is larger than any other, by the year 2030, the majority of Americans will be 70 and older.
Skin-to-contact is important from the time we’re born.
It doesn’t just aid mothers and babies in bonding, but it helps calm infants so they sleep more and don’t cry as much.
Some studies have shown that being calmer and sleeping better enables their brain development.
This means that there is a trade-off for humans being social creatures. If companionship is necessary for survival, its opposite – seclusion – can be toxic.
‘When we feel alone, when we lack the ability to interact with people in familiar and comforting ways, we feel vulnerable, and we feel under threat and under attack,’ Floyd told Insider.
He said this leads to increased amounts of stress, which can manifest physically including headaches, elevated blood pressure, and chest pain.
These can all raise the risk of – or worsen – diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma and arthritis.
Additionally, the increase of cortisol, known as the stress hormone, can increase the amount of fat tissue your body and cause you to gain weight.
Floyd says there are a few things you can do if you are missing physical touch but don’t yet feel safe enough to do so.
He says that petting animals, being your own cats and dogs or a neighbor’s, can help lower levels of stress hormones.
Additionally, hugging something like a pillow with pressure can trick your brain ito thinking that you are hugging a person.
‘There are some benefits of just going through the motion,’ Floyd said.
