Cuddling despite corona

When we embrace each other, a warm feeling rises within us. We take up more space in the room and inter-individual boundaries disappear - if only for a few seconds. A wanted, pleasant hug can give us feelings of trust, affection, security, and comfort. Handshakes, caresses, hugs, greeting kisses: such touches are essential for humans.

But due to the measures taken to contain the corona pandemic, we have to do without some physical contact. Many of us only realized how important these touches are to us after we started receiving less of them. 

Why do we need touch?

"Our species, Homo sapiens, belongs to the class of nesting mammals," explains haptics researcher and psychology professor Martin Grunwald. He heads the Haptic Research Laboratory at the Paul-Flechsig-Institute for Brain Research at the University of Leipzig. "The first stages of life for our species can only be good for us if there is sufficient physical contact, sufficient bodily stimulation in our species. No infant can develop well if it is not also sufficiently physically stimulated. Touch stimuli lead to neural growth and to physical growth." 

The importance of social contact and touch stimuli for growth is also shown in a recent study of Romanian institutionalized children, published  in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). These children had smaller brains than comparison groups due to severe neglect and lack of mental stimulation.

Touch stimuli are also "quite important for stress regulation," says Grunwald. There is also another "side effect of body interaction" and that is "that it ultimately serves to reassure us that we are not alone in this world." In this respect, touch has a central social function, he said. "This physical level of our communication also serves to develop, build, and maintain good and stable relationships, quite apart from any sexual activity and far from any sexual motivations."

At the same time, not all touch is the same. According to haptics professor Grunwald, many conditions must be met for physical contact to have a positive effect on us: "It must be made at the right time by the right person with the right strength on the right part of the body."

Relaxation as a reaction to physical touch

And what happens in our brain when a person close to us touches us pleasantly? "At the perceptual level, these appropriate levels of touch stimuli are transformed into positive emotions," Grunwald says. Our brain reacts to these touches by activating numerous brain areas, he adds.

As a result of the brain being activated, the body releases certain neurotransmitters and hormones that, among other things, put the entire body in a different state. "On the neuropsychological/neurobiological level, our brain transforms the touch stimuli into relaxation stimuli, that is, a relaxation response."

Self-control and restraint lead to stress

To contain corona, we now refrain from many opportunities for physical contact. This restraint can have an effect on us humans. However, not everyone finds the prohibition of contact, also known as "social distancing," equally difficult.

How much this impacts us depends on how strong our need for physical touch is. There are people who have a strong need for physical touch and there are people who prefer to go without it. Some people simply don't like to be touched or embraced by anyone.

"If you have a strong need for physical touch or are otherwise accustomed to it as part of your daily life and now have to do without it, then it naturally leads to an increased stress response, and you have to manage your needs accordingly," the haptics researcher believes.

"Any form of self-control and restraint naturally leads to an increase in stressful emotions. Anxiety is definitely generated, because the calming effect of familiar, regular physical touch is also missing." This must be taken seriously, he says: "Depending on the individual need, the lack of physical interaction can also produce clinically relevant symptoms."

Hugging others vs. hugging ourselves: Do we even need other people?

What if we just hugged ourselves? Wouldn’t that have the same effect? "A clear no," the psychologist states. "If we could produce the same effects via self-touch, then we wouldn't be, or wouldn't need to be, social creatures at all," Grunwald says.

Physical touch, he adds, is part of interpersonal communication. Grunwald emphasizes: "Self-hugging does not lead to a relaxation reaction. The feelings of closeness we experience when we engage in physical touch with others is not the same feeling we experience when we hug ourselves."

It's in our social DNA

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have become accustomed to avoiding physical contact with acquaintances and friends, going shopping in masks, and smiling at and greeting neighbors behind a mask from a distance. But although humans are creatures of habit, it will not get to the point where we become permanently accustomed to this emergency behavior and forget to be social beings once the danger has passed.

Grunwald is confident that "physical touch with others is part of our way of life as Homo sapiens and that's basically in our biological DNA or in our social DNA," said Grunwald. "It's shaped by our experiences as children, as infants. We will find our way back to these basic forms of communication."

In this process, he says, the younger generation in particular will lead the way. "They will also fight for and conquer the sphere of physical communication again. Because they still have their whole lives ahead of them," the psychologist says. "They have not yet chosen their partners or careers: their overall personality still has yet to mature, and that requires intensive communication with socially diverse people."

All of this could not be completed via online meetings or video conferences. "Those also require aspects of body language." So don't panic: We're not going to mutate into some kind of online beings. "Our basic biological makeup will take care of that," the researcher reassures us.

"Going without is something young people don't experience"

Not all age groups are equally affected by forgoing touch and physical contact. Adolescents and young adults are particularly hard hit by corona conditions, he said. "This group is eager to communicate, to get to know other people, to explore new places, and that involves being in contact with other people," Grunwald points out. "To now ban this group to screens and laptops, of course, that's tough."

The younger people are, the harder it is for them to do without, he said. "Older people definitely know that. But young people haven't had that experience of going without. As a result, the [mental stress] from corona is significantly greater for younger people than older people."

Substitutes for physical touch

But how could one temporarily compensate for the lack of touch in corona times despite all this? Does hugging trees help, for instance, as the Icelandic Forest Service recommends? Perhaps it would be better for people who live alone and suffer from social touch deprivation to care for animals from a shelter by the hour, the scientist recommends.

"Research clearly shows when our species interacts with other mammals, both sides benefit," says Grunwald, who recorded his findings in the book "Homo Hapticus." Another tip from him: organize professional physiotherapy massages for yourself.

Professional cuddlers who offer professional touch stimuli in compliance with the relevant regulations would be Professor Grunwald's final recommendation.

At the same time, he is sure that mankind will survive this time as well: "It has already survived a lot of things: Plague, cholera, world wars. The Berlin Wall didn't last forever, and we've also survived Donald Trump. So in that sense, there will also be a time after corona."