How many hugs does it take to be happy?

 

Hugs are a particularly intimate and intense way of expressing emotions. Through a hug, we can convey our happiness or sadness. We can tell a person that he can rely on us unconditionally or that we understand his state of mind. And all without having to resort to words.

But hugging doesn't just help us connect with others and express what we feel. Giving hugs with love is good for our health, our brain and, of course, our emotional balance .

How do hugs affect our brains?

When someone hugs us, that contact activates the pressure receptors we have on the skin, known as Pacini corpuscles, which respond primarily to deep pressure. These receptors immediately send a series of calming signals to the vagus nerve to, among other things, deactivate the area of ​​the brain that responds to threats and keeps us tense.

That's when we start feeling good because that nerve connects to nerve fibers that reach different cranial nerves and play an important role in regulating most of the key functions in our body, including blood pressure.

As a result of hugging and stimulating the vagus nerve, heart rate and blood pressure decrease. The breathing rate also slows down, which helps us breathe more deeply and completely.

In fact, the vagus nerve plays an important role in the parasympathetic system, which would be a kind of hand brake of the nervous system that is activated when we are too stressed or are overexcited. Therefore, stimulating the vagus nerve through hugging allows us to recover from tension, relieves agitation and helps us develop a state of calm and well-being.

Through this mechanism, the hugs come to "hack" our brain. In fact, they stimulate the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter known as the "pleasure hormone" as it generates a pleasant feeling of satisfaction that helps relieve stress and tension.

Hugging has also been seen to increase the production of oxytocin, known as the "love hormone," which allows us to connect emotionally with other people and encourages us to trust them.

Above all, the benefits of hugging are immediate. A study conducted at the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International in Kyoto caused a group of people to talk for 15 minutes with their partners, then some received a hug and some did not.

In evaluating the physiological parameters, the researchers found that those who received a hug showed a significant reduction in the level of cortisol in the blood, the stress hormone that causes so much damage to the body.

Hugs help us feel good about ourselves

A brotherly hug, or a loving caress, affects the brain's ability to build body image, even in adults. This type of physical contact is also essential for developing and maintaining an adequate perception of our body.

According to a study conducted at University College London, the explanation is that this type of body contact provides very pleasant tactile sensations that generate a series of proprioceptive signals, which help us feel better in our body.

In practice, a caress or a strong hug not only sends proprioceptive signals to our brain that allow us to be more aware of our body, but also tells us that we are worthy of being loved. And those feelings make us feel very good.

In fact, researchers warn that a lack of hugs and cuddles could be a trigger - or aggravating - of body image disorders like anorexia and bulimia.

How many hugs does it take to be happy?

We could all live without hugs, but it would be like dying slowly, a little bit every day. For this reason, family psychotherapist Virginia Satir stated that "we need 4 hugs a day to survive, 8 hugs to keep us and 12 hugs to grow". According to her, we need 8 hugs a day to be happy.

In fact, in a study conducted at UCLA, researchers scanned participants' brains as they received electric shocks. Their partners accompanied them during the test and, in some cases, they were allowed to hold his hand.

Thus it was seen that the brain areas responsible for the attenuation of fear were activated, which helped them to deal with the stress of the experience. Physical contact makes us feel safer, decreases our responsiveness to potentially threatening experiences, and makes us less sensitive to physical pain.

Further research conducted at Carnegie Mellon University revealed that hugging can greatly improve our mood and make us see things in a more positive light, even under the worst of circumstances.

These researchers called 404 people every night for two weeks to ask about their interpersonal conflicts in life, investigate their mood, and find out how many hugs they had received during the day.

93% of people said they received at least one strong hug during the experiment days and 69% had at least one conflict with another person in that time frame.

Psychologists found that people felt better than usual on days when they received at least a brotherly hug, and worse on days when they had a conflict with other people. But if they had received a hug the same day they had a fight with someone, their mood was more positive.

In fact, the hugs even had a protective effect. When people received a hug, they had less conflict the next day and the bad mood for everyday problems was less.

All these results show that hugs have a powerful effect on our brains and help us achieve a state of relaxation and well-being, while allowing us to better cope with stressful situations. Their diminished effect on stressful events also reveals that hugs are necessary to be happy.

So even if you don't get exactly 8 hugs a day, make sure you get your daily dose. It's good for you and the person you hug. The next time you see a friend or family member in need, hug them. Sometimes words are useless. There is nothing like intimate contact to strengthen bonds and show support.

Sources:

Murphy, ML et. Al. (2018) Receiving a hug is associated with the attenuation of negative mood that occurs on days with interpersonal conflict. PLoS One; 13: e0203522.

Sumioka, H. et. Al. (2013) Huggable communication medium decreases cortisol levels. Nature ; 3: 3024.

Crucianelli, L. et. Al. (2013) Bodily Pleasure Matters: Velocity of Touch Modulates Body Ownership During the Rubber Hand Illusion. Frontiers in Psychology ; 4: 703.

Inagaki, TK & Eisenberger, NI (2012) Neural correlates of giving support to a loved one. Psychosom Med ; 74 (1): 3-7. 

Holt-Lunstad, J. et. Al. (2008) Influence of a “warm touch” support enhancement intervention among married couples on ambulatory blood pressure, oxytocin, alpha amylase, and cortisol. Psychosom. Med ; 70: 976–985.