You know how drinking too much coffee can kind of put us on edge for the next few hours? Well, hugging can actually have the opposite effect. Like so many other unseen benefits, this all goes back to good ol’ hormones. Some researchers believe that hugging and other interpersonal touch can boost a hormone called oxytocin and also affect our endogenous opioid system. Big words, right? But basically it boils down to this: Simply through the act of hugging, our brains can produce soothing chemicals that help us feel more safe and less threatened throughout the day. So when something stressful
does come up, we don’t have such an aggressive fight-or-flight response to it.
