Men hate hugs and women can’t get enough of them, right? It’s stereotypical, but there’s a basis for generality. Through his clinical experience, psychologist and psychoanalyst Michael Bade, D.M.H. came up with an explanation. In an article for Psychology Today, he detailed a woman’s need for intimacy (cuddling) after sex and a man’s need to separate the two rolling over and falling asleep.
According to Baden’s Freudian theory, hugs reassure women that they have not been abandoned and men, seemingly unconsciously, pull away to avoid any obligation to care for or support the woman. Eek!
Here are some of the amazing things that happen to your body when you cuddle.
You feel happier
Paul Zak is a world-renowned expert on the “moral molecule.” Essentially, oxytocin is a hormone that has long been attributed with helping with childbirth and breastfeeding. “The higher your oxytocin level, the higher your happiness,” Zak told WebMD.
What’s more, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, studies have begun to prove that this hormone not only makes you happier, but also plays a role in other aspects of life – from social recognition to orgasms. , yes ladies.
Oxytocin is also a fairly easy hormone to activate. According to Zak, interacting with others on social media like Facebook or Twitter leads to spikes in oxytocin levels. Even watching sappy movies will boost this “feel good” hormone. Touch, however, seems to be the best kind of interaction. Zak specifically recommends eight hugs per day — minimum.
Your immunity gets a boost
In a study published by Sage Journals, over four hundred healthy adults were exposed to a virus that causes the common cold. Some of these adults received hugs while battling their colds and, at the same time, monitored their illnesses. Those that received support and were given hugs were protected against developing an infection. It also seems the more hugs the better. Those who received greater support and more frequent hugs had even less severe signs of illness.
So, the next time your partner tries to wriggle out from your embrace, just tell him it’s for his health.
Your libido increases
If you’ve relegated cuddling to a strictly post-coital activity, you’re missing out. Dr. Renee Horowitz, ob-gyn and owner of The Center for Sexual Wellness in Michigan, explained in an interview with Shape, “There is… the release of dopamine, which is an excitatory hormone that increases sexual desire.”
That’s right — cuddling can actually increase your libido so there’s good reason to snuggle up with your partner prior to getting it on. That said, dopamine isn’t the only chemical at work while you’re cuddling. “Cuddling, holding, and sexual play releases chemicals, like oxytocin, in the brain that create a sense of well-being and happiness,” Horowitz said.
Your anxiety lessens
If you’re one of the 40 million people in the United States dealing with anxiety, take comfort in this: physical touch can, and will, reduce your anxiety.
In a, quite frankly, wild study published by Sage Journals, 16 women were monitored during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. These women were then told they would experience an electric shock while holding either their partner’s hand, an anonymous man’s hand, or no hand at all.
If that is the significance of just hand-to-hand contact, imagine the relief that would come from cuddling. But, why the dramatic bodily response to begin with? This is partially because of the hormone oxytocin that is released during physical touch, like both hand-holding and cuddling. According to a report published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, oxytocin is proven to reduce anxiety, or, as anxiety is hard to quantify, “anxiety-like behavior.”
Your blood pressure lowers
For people with hypertension, or high blood pressure, diet, exercise, and often medication are recommended. Why? High blood pressure can wreak serious havoc on your body in numerous ways.
Obviously, none of these things are good. If you want added protection against high blood pressure, there’s another antidote you can try. What is it? Cuddling, of course. That’s not to say you should start giving out free squeezes instead of taking your medication — not at all. However, there is a definitive link between reduced blood pressure and hugging, especially for women.
Your heart rate slows
Changes in heart rate were also monitored as part of the same study used to measure blood pressure before and after hugging. Just as the premenopausal women’s blood pressure lowered so, too, did their heart rates.
In another study conducted by the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina (via USA Today), couples were split into two groups. The first group was instructed to sit beside their partners and hold hands. Afterward, the group also watched a brief clip of a romantic movie and then hugged their mates for a duration of twenty seconds. Meanwhile, the second group had no physical interaction with their partners. They sat alone and were not shown the romantic video segment. All the while, every person from each group was having their heart rate monitored.
The couples in the second group, the ones that had no physical contact with their partner, experienced a drastic rise in their blood pressure — more than 24 points in their systolic (upper) reading! Not only that but their heart rate increased at a rate double to the first group of hugging partners.
Your pain is relieved
When you were little, do you remember what would happen when you inevitably fell down and got hurt? Did you run to your mom and show her your boo-boo? No doubt she kissed your evolving bruise, gave you a hug, and sent you on your way. Voila! You were healed. Perhaps it was her motherly instinct taking over that caused her to kiss away your pain. All these years, maybe you thought that a hug from your parent was just some sort of psychosomatic mind-trick.
Wondering how in the world this can be true? According to researchers, the neurons that are responsible for sending oxytocin coursing through your veins also work to stimulate cells in your spinal cord. In turn, these stimulated cells increase your levels of oxytocin and bam! You receive “a pain-relieving effect.”
You feel happier
Oxytocin is a hormone that has long been attributed to aiding in childbirth and breastfeeding. However, the hormone also plays an important role in how you feel. “The higher your oxytocin, the higher your happiness,” Zak explained to WebMD.
Oxytocin is also a fairly easy hormone to activate. Interacting with others on social media like Facebook or Twitter leads to spikes in oxytocin levels. Even watching sappy movies will boost this “feel good” hormone. Touch, however, seems to be the best kind of interaction. Zak specifically recommends eight hugs per day — minimum.
Your immunity gets a boost
Imagine walking into your local pharmacy and instead of getting a flu shot, the pharmacist greets you with a hug (after asking consent, of course). Granted, you’d probably be a bit taken aback — maybe a little relieved not to get a needle — but you’d also get a boost to your immune system. Seriously!
So, the next time your partner tries to wriggle out from your embrace, just tell him it’s for his health.
Your libido increases
If you’ve relegated cuddling to a strictly post-coital activity, you’re missing out. Dr. Renee Horowitz, ob-gyn and owner of The Center for Sexual Wellness in Michigan, explained in an interview with Shape, “There is… the release of dopamine, which is an excitatory hormone that increases sexual desire.”
That’s right — cuddling can actually increase your libido so there’s good reason to snuggle up with your partner prior to getting it on. That said, dopamine isn’t the only chemical at work while you’re cuddling. “Cuddling, holding, and sexual play releases chemicals, like oxytocin, in the brain that create a sense of well-being and happiness,” Horowitz said.
Your anxiety lessens
If you’re one of the 40 million people in the United States dealing with anxiety, take comfort in this: physical touch can, and will, reduce your anxiety.
If that is the significance of just hand-to-hand contact, imagine the relief that would come from cuddling. But, why the dramatic bodily response to begin with? This is partially because of the hormone oxytocin that is released during physical touch, like both hand-holding and cuddling. According to a report published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, oxytocin is proven to reduce anxiety, or, as anxiety is hard to quantify, “anxiety-like behavior.”
Your blood pressure lowers
For people with hypertension, or high blood pressure, diet, exercise, and often medication are recommended. Why? High blood pressure can wreak serious havoc on your body in numerous ways.
As part of a study published by Biological Psychology, 59 premenopausal women had their blood pressure checked before and after being embraced by their partners. The result? The women’s blood pressure went down. By the same token, the oxytocin levels of the women also increased. What’s more, the greater frequency of hugs, the lower resting blood pressure. Pretty cool, right?
Your heart rate slows
Changes in heart rate were also monitored as part of the same study used to measure blood pressure before and after hugging. Just as the premenopausal women’s blood pressure lowered so, too, did their heart rates.
The couples in the second group, the ones that had no physical contact with their partner, experienced a drastic rise in their blood pressure — more than 24 points in their systolic (upper) reading! Not only that but their heart rate increased at a rate double to the first group of hugging partners.
Your pain is relieved
When you were little, do you remember what would happen when you inevitably fell down and got hurt? Did you run to your mom and show her your boo-boo? No doubt she kissed your evolving bruise, gave you a hug, and sent you on your way. Voila! You were healed. Perhaps it was her motherly instinct taking over that caused her to kiss away your pain. All these years, maybe you thought that a hug from your parent was just some sort of psychosomatic mind-trick.
Wondering how in the world this can be true? According to researchers, the neurons that are responsible for sending oxytocin coursing through your veins also work to stimulate cells in your spinal cord. In turn, these stimulated cells increase your levels of oxytocin and bam! You receive “a pain-relieving effect.”
