Study indicates that touch can reduce pain, depression and anxiety

Touch, whether it’s a warm hug or the comfort of a blanket, is more than just a physical sensation. Researchers claim that it brings a series of benefits to the body and mind. From the first days of life, when the sense of touch is the first to develop in babies, until adulthood, touch plays a crucial role in our experience and communication with the world around us.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people felt the lack of physical contact intensely, further highlighting the importance of touch for our well-being. A comprehensive study, conducted by experts at the University Hospital Essen in Germany, and published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, compiled and analyzed 212 previous studies on the effects of touch. The results revealed that touch is beneficial for both mental and physical health, in both adults and newborns.

“More consensual touching events throughout the day can help alleviate or potentially numb mental and physical complaints,” he told The Guardian Helena Hartmann, co-author of the study from the University Hospital Essen. “Our work illustrates that tactile interventions are best suited to reduce pain, depression and anxiety in adults and children, as well as to increase weight gain in newborns,” the researchers write.

Surprisingly, human touch and the touch of objects, such as social robots or weighted blankets, have been found to offer similar benefits. This suggests that even non-human forms of touch can have positive impacts, pointing to the need for more research in this area. “This means we need to conduct more research into the potential of weighted blankets or social robots to improve people’s well-being, especially during contact-limited situations like the recent pandemic,” Hartmann said.

However, human touch, especially skin-to-skin contact, has had an even greater impact on mental health. This may be due to the unique properties of human touch, such as skin texture and warmth, which play an important role in emotional regulation. Although the study provided a broad view of the benefits of touch, there are still open questions, such as which specific types of touch are associated with specific health benefits. Furthermore, the research highlights the need to explore how touch can be integrated with other treatments to further improve well-being.

The importance of human touch is amply demonstrated by research. From birth, babies rely on touch to regulate their temperature, heart rate and breathing, as well as reduce crying. Studies show that skin-to-skin contact, even in the first hours after birth, has a significant impact on the well-being of newborns, increasing relaxation hormones in mothers and facilitating the release of oxytocin. Remarkable experiments, such as Harlow’s with monkeys, highlight the emotional need for touch. Touch has the power to calm the nervous system, reduce blood pressure and cortisol levels.