How Can Hugs Relieve Stress?

 by Eliza Stevens

Ever wonder why Olaf is always so happy, or maybe even how? It’s because... ‘I’m Olaf and I like warm hugs!’. 

After having all just been through weeks of revision and exam stress, it’s time that we take a few days to relax and look after ourselves. I am sure that many of us have some exciting and fun things planned for the next few weekends as we are approaching the end of term, however if you are in need of an easily accessible stress relief… give someone a hug. All you have to do is give a friend or family member a long hug, and this is why it helps:

Research has shown that, by hugging someone you care about you will be relieved of feelings of loneliness and physical effects of stress. A simple hug can change your negative mood and help your body and brain by boosting the ‘feel-good’ hormones. There are three main hormones that play a key role in reducing our levels of stress. Firstly, dopamine is the pleasure hormone that, when released, makes us feel good which goes hand in hand with serotonin. This is the antidepressant hormone that elevates our mood, controls anxiety and reduces feelings of loneliness. Finally, oxytocin is the love hormone that relieves stress and lowers our blood pressure, as well as increasing our immunity.

In order to reduce your stress levels and release all these important hormones, it only takes 20 seconds.

You might be wondering how a quick hug can instantly improve your health and your immunity. Well, if you apply gentle pressure on your sternum, the emotional charge that comes with it stimulates the thymus gland which regulates and balances the body’s production of white blood cells, these keep an individual healthy and disease free. Hugging relaxes the muscles by releasing tension in the body which is completed through the circulation of blood through soft tissue. When we hug, touch or sit close to someone we love, our body releases oxytocin which scientists call the ‘cuddle hormone’.

If you find yourself in a position of feeling stressed or simply just overwhelmed, stimulate that cuddle hormone and think as Olaf would!