Science says: hugging is healthy

I really think hugging is the best thing there is. I prefer to hug all day long, sometimes to the slight irritation of my loved one, because I often complain that I am not hugged enough. It is one of the few things that really relaxes me, so that will undoubtedly be the reason for my constant urge for it. Or I just love attention, that could also be the case.

But did you know that it has been proven that hugging is good for us? I have read various studies that show that hugging brings many health benefits. Most likely, a lot of scientists became interested in this topic during the pandemic. Findings have been shared on Psychology Today from a number of these studies. I will share the most interesting ones with you.

It turns out, among other things, that hugging actually reduces stress. Researcher Aljoscha Dreisoerner from Goethe University in Frankfurt not only researched the effect of hugging others but also the effect of hugging yourself. The study involved 159 volunteers who were divided into three groups: hugging others, hugging themselves, and not hugging at all after a stressful situation. In both the hugged people and those who hugged themselves, the cortisol level was significantly lower after 20 seconds. Good to know this, so the next time my boyfriend has had enough, I can just wrap my own arms around myself.

Additionally, another study revealed that the duration of the hug is also important. Researcher Anna L. Dueren from the Department of Psychology at the University of London conducted a study with 45 women. They were hugged for one second, five seconds, or ten seconds and then reported how they felt. The hugs of five and ten seconds made the women feel better than the one-second hugs. I can certainly agree with this. I would say: the longer the hug, the better.

Finally, there was another interesting finding from the research of Tia Rogers-Jarrell from the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University in Toronto. They discovered that hugging is particularly important for the health of older adults. For the study, they analyzed data from the Canadian Community Health Survey of more than 20,000 people aged 65 and older. The older adults who participated and were regularly hugged felt much healthier than those who never hugged. The researchers also looked at other influencing factors, such as income and chronic diseases. And what turned out? Older adults with chronic diseases who were hugged more often felt better than those without diseases who never hugged. This can make me so sad. Can't we all volunteer to hug the elderly? I would do it in a heartbeat.

sources: psychologytoday, bedrock