Touch and Health

Well, the results are in from yet another study that show—yes, you guessed it—touch is good. (Packhesier, et.al. 2024). As it turns out, touch is good for our physical health whether we are touched by a human or an object (go get your vibes!), but mental health is more greatly impacted by human touch.

For most of us, the more often we are touched, the better we feel. Duration of touch is less important than frequency. Isn’t that interesting? So a hug three times a day may create more positive changes in our health than a one-hour massage. Even further, people with mental health concerns such as depression or anxiety get more out of being touched than people without these conditions.

Scientists already knew that touch produces oxytocin, which makes us feel more bonded to other people. It also stimulates “feel-good” hormones such as serotonin and dopamine. One of the implications of this finding is that fewer people might need medication if we had more casual touch on a daily basis.

It’s also important to note that we trust strangers who shake our hands more than those who don’t, perhaps due to the oxytocin that is produced. We could take this as a caution, but we can also think about this as a way to build a sense of belonging and community in a world where loneliness is now considered an epidemic (see the bestseller Together, by Surgeon General Vivek Murthy).

In the lab at the Greater Good Science Center in Berkely, they attempted to see if emotions could be transmitted through touch alone, with no other cues. They showed that subjects could detect gratitude, sympathy and love through a brief touch on their arms over half the time. (See video here). Even more, the research seems to show that touch is “fundamental to human communication, bonding and health.” (Keltner, Dacher 2010)

As sex educators and clinicians, we need to think not only of touch as part of sex, but also think of sex as a type of touch. How much do the above points apply to sexual touch? Are there benefits to sexual touch that other types of touch do not have? Are certain benefits from sex increased over benefits from other touch?

No matter what the case, educating our clients and students about touch’s benefits is an essential part of what we do. Educators can use activities that use safe, consensual, optional touch to demonstrate these principles. Clinicians can more frequently encourage casual touch as a strategy to repair the bond of trust in a relationship.

In what ways are you already practicing educating about touch? Do you let clients and students know why it is important, and what the research says? How do we have a trauma-informed lens while being touch-positive?

Leave your comments. We’d love to know what you think.