Embraces, handshakes or a simple palm resting on the shoulder seem to belong to the world of the past, that of before the health crisis. The problem? We need physical contact as much as talking, drinking or eating. “Touching nourishes the bond, indicates the psychologist Céline Rivière, when you touch someone, it is that you show interest in them. And it is difficult to do without it.”
The touch is indeed rather spontaneous. Preventing yourself from touching because you have to respect barrier gestures means placing yourself in constant hypervigilance, monitoring your gestures. “All attachment theories are based on touch. Harry Harlow, an American psychologist, was the first to show in small apes (and by extension in humans) that the deprivation of physical contact prevented social development. toddlers.”
1. Comfort comes through touch
Touch is the simplest and most direct way to connect with others, because it breaks isolation. In the difficult moments of life, whether it is bereavement or the announcement of an illness, when we don’t have or no longer have the words, we hug the person. In great moments of joy too. “When a person is overwhelmed by their emotions, notes Céline Rivière, the only thing that can calm them down is to create contact, by placing a hand on the arm, the shoulder, the knee.”
Without touching, it is difficult to build a secure bubble. Moreover, in Japan where culturally the touch is rare, the lacks are cruelly felt. “It is the first country to have opened cuddle bars and cat bars, notes our specialist, so strong is the need for physical contact.”
And, whatever the culture, comfort comes first and foremost through touch. “When you feel a fragility, you touch almost instinctively, continues Céline Rivière. There are situations where you can’t even imagine not touching: a child who has just been hurt, a loved one who cracks. ..”
2. There is no lie in touch
Touch contributes to non-verbal communication. “There is no lie in touch, because it is a warm contact that must be consented and benevolent” explains the psychologist. It is also the first sense to develop in humans, from the second month of pregnancy, the first contact, the first “dialogue” between the baby and his mother. A sense that lasts throughout life without altering, unlike sight or hearing. Caregivers have also implemented what is called “relational touch” in many health structures.
The goal ? Reestablish contact with patients who can no longer communicate verbally. A care policy that has proven itself in recent years, particularly with the elderly and patients with Alzheimer’s.
3. Touch relieves stress
Our skin is covered with receptors (Pacini’s corpuscles for example, which are fine touch receptors) which are directly connected to our nervous system. These receptors are the first to receive the information caused by touch and to trigger the secretion of oxytocin. “This attachment and well-being hormone boosts self-confidence, stimulates the immune system and reduces stress by countering the effect of cortisol.” This is one of the reasons why we feel soothed after a massage.
The Clinical Research Hospital Program (PHRC) in nursing care in the Auvergne region studied in 2009 the impact of touch (a professional practice that aims to adopt reassuring gestures with a more enveloping, calm and soothed touch) during care on pain and anxiety and concludes that patients who benefited from this approach felt less pain and anxiety overall during care.
Covid-19: touch without risk?
Between zero contact and free hug (cuddling with strangers, a concept launched in 2004 in Sydney, Australia), what possibilities are available to us in the midst of a pandemic?
- Contact within the household. “Refusing to touch in the family and love sphere can have dramatic consequences, insists Céline Rivière, because these are the places of security par excellence, spaces where you can free yourself from pressure.” On the contrary, the therapist recommends developing touch within the home (as long as it does not increase the risk of the virus, of course) during periods when the outside world becomes more stressful and more distressing.
- The secure contact. It is always possible to practice a therapeutic massage or a well-being massage. We simply make sure to strictly respect the health protocols put in place.
Our expert: Céline Rivière, clinical psychologist, graduate in neuro-emotional therapy, neuropsychology and neurosciences, author of cuddle therapy, ed. Michalon.
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