Has someone ever told you that cuddling is good for your health? Have you personally cuddled with a boyfriend/girlfriend or even a friend and felt emotionally healthier after? Personally, I have experienced the emotional benefit of cuddling with someone, especially someone that you have a strong emotional attachment to. So, let’s take a look at the basic reasons of why cuddling is good for your or not.
First off, cuddling can boost your immune system. It is scientifically proven that when cuddling, oxycontin is released. Oxycontin is the hormone known as the “feel-good hormone” that makes us feel strong and like nothing can touch us. The release of this hormone makes us feel more confident about ourselves and boosts our immune system but increasing the amount of hormones our body produces to fight off various infections. Similarly, cuddling can alleviate pain and decrease social anxiety. According to Vanessa Luis, the immediate release of oxycontin reduces your ability to focus on the pain. She states, “The next time your head starts pounding, try cuddling with your loved one to make you feel better.” As mentioned above, oxycontin also enhances positive thinking, which in turn, reduces social anxiety and anxiety in general. Even more interesting, cuddling has been determined to lower the risk of obtaining heart disease. With less stress and anxiety, your blood pressure will also lower, which lowers the likelihood of you getting heart disease.
Including cuddling, other displays of affection can benefit your health. A study was conducted the positive benefits of hugging was shown. American Psychosomatic Society reported that a short hug and ten minutes of holding hands with another person can reduce the effects of stress. Psychologist Karen Grewen declares, “Loving contact [cuddling] before a tough day at work could carry over and protect you throughout the day.” The School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill conducted a study in which 100 adults were chosen who had spouses or long-term partners were told to hold hands while watching a ten minute video. After this, the couples were told to hug for twenty seconds. Another group of 85 individuals just waited patiently without any partners by their side. At the end of the observational study, every person were asked to speak about an event they went through that caused them to be stressed or feel irritated. After everyone spoke, researchers found that blood pressure sky-rocketed in the individuals who had no partners and no contact with others. Also, their systolic or upper and diastolic or lower reading increased dramatically compared to those who participated in contact with their loved ones. The researchers checked the heart beat of those who had no contact whatsoever and their heart rate increased by 10 beats per minute compared to 5 beats per minute for the control group.
According to David Klow of Shape Magazine, “Non-verbal communication can be a very powerful way to say to your partner, ‘I get you’. Cuddling is a way of saying ‘I know how you feel’. It allows us to feel known by our partner in ways that words can’t convey.” New studies are also looking into cuddling reducing certain stress disorders. For example, scientists are looking into if the hormone oxycontin can help post traumatic stress disorder and disorders that occur in the autism spectrum, which are neurodevelopment disorders. In addition, I mentioned above it reduces the level of stress we feel. The release of oxycontin limits the amount of cortisol released, which is the hormone that essentially produces stress. Too high levels of cortisol are not good for your health because it can cause great changes in our weight and moods (anxiety, depression, anger). Oxycontin helps level out these cortisol levels, enabling us to feel overall healthier as individuals.
In conclusion, the studies conducted show that participating in signs of affection, including cuddling, release oxycontin which provide health benefits because it boots the immune system, reduces stress, reduces social anxiety, balances cortisol levels, reduces the pain felt, and promotes positive thinking. As for cuddling reducing the risk for heart disease, I don’t think there is enough evidence or strong enough studies that show that there is a direct causal relationship between cuddling and the reduction of heart disease. From the studies mentioned, there is a strong causation between cuddling (and other signs of affection) and health benefits.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/hugging-health-valentines-day_n_2545226.html
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-03-09-hug-usat_x.htm
http://goodmenproject.com/health/the-good-life-5-ways-cuddling-makes-us-healthier/
http://healthmeup.com/news-healthy-living/health-benefits-of-cuddling/30350