Touch: The importance of reaching out for emotional wellbeing

Contact comfort helps soothe nerves, reduce blood pressure and slow down our heartbeat. It also releases the hormone oxytocin, which promotes emotional bonding

Pic: iStock

When holding your partner’s hand, you feel the heat from their skin, the softness of their palm, the indentation of their rings, and the pressure from their fingers.

Sensations begin as signals generated by touch receptors in your skin. They travel down sensory nerves that connect to the spinal cord.