Does holding hands reduce stress? Could something so simple really help to calm you down and perhaps even alleviate some problems associated with adrenal fatigue? Human connection is one of the most important building blocks of mental health. And now there’s evidence that just holding hands could be incredibly beneficial.
There have been several studies aimed at answering the question, does holding hands reduce stress? One study recently published in Psychological Science used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the brain activity in women who were told they were about to receive an electrical shock. Before the experiment, the subjects rated their marriage quality so that people in unhappy marriages could be removed from the research.
The researchers measured differences in brain activity before a shock when the subjects were holding hands with a stranger, with a spouse, and not holding hands at all. There was a marked difference in these results. The subjects’ stress levels were highest when they weren’t holding hands. Stress levels were lower when the subjects held a stranger’s hand, and the lowest when they held their husband’s hands. Even more interesting, women who were in the happiest marriages as rated before the study reported the greatest amount of relief from holding their husbands’ hands.
A second study had participants performing a difficult task that increased stress levels. Some of the participants held hands with spouses during the test and some didn’t. The group that held hands still experienced stress during the test but calmed down afterward much faster than the group that didn’t hold hands. This shows that physical contact could help decrease chronic or ongoing stress and help you return to a normal level of functioning faster after stressful situations.
Why does holding hands reduce stress? Well, there may be several reasons for this. Firstly, holding hands with someone is a form of social support. It strengthens your bonds and makes you feel more connected. Every human needs to feel connected to others, which is why this tangible evidence of support and connection may help reduce stress.
The second reason why holding hands may reduce stress has to do with cortisol. Previous studies have shown that people in healthy relationships tend to have lower levels of cortisol overall. This suggests that a reliable source of support and connection may naturally lower cortisol levels in stressful situations as well as in general life.
And finally, another reason why holding hands helps with stress has to do with oxytocin. This is a hormone that is released as a result of positive touching, like when you’re hugged. Oxytocin increases trust and helps you feel more connected to other people. Basically, it makes you feel good and calms you down. So, when someone holds your hand, the release of this hormone may help lower your stress levels.
Adrenal fatigue is one widespread condition caused by stress. The path to Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS) recovery isn’t easy. Because AFS is stress-related, it can be very difficult to correct.
The modern world is stressful on an ongoing basis, which causes the NeuroEndoMetabolic (NEM) stress response to be active on an ongoing basis. The NEM stress response is designed to turn on during periods of stress, making changes throughout the body that help you deal with the situation, and then turn off. This allows your body to return to a more natural state and to heal any damage. When the NEM stress response is active over a long period, the changes it causes in the body continue. They worsen until they become imbalanced. This can cause malfunctions in every system in your body.
These malfunctions often start in the adrenal glands, an integral part of the NEM stress response. The adrenals secrete the cortisol that helps to cause these changes throughout the body. But when the NEM stress response demands a constant flow of cortisol to deal with constant stress, the adrenals become fatigued. Everyone’s tolerance for adrenal fatigue is different. But if this imbalance isn’t corrected, the adrenals can start to break down. This will cause worsening imbalances throughout the body and worsening symptoms that seem unrelated because they come from a wide variety of organs and systems.
An AFS recovery plan includes a lot of different elements such as dietary and lifestyle improvements.
But one unexpected technique is to work on your marriage or relationship. Studies looking at the question does holding hands reduce stress, not only show that physical contact can relieve stress. They also show that the stress-relieving effects of holding hands are more pronounced in stronger relationships.
Holding hands with someone you care about, or even a stranger, will help. But you’ll get more benefits if you’re holding hands with someone you love and trust. And the stronger your relationship with that person, the better the effects will be. So, if you’re looking to work on your AFS recovery, take a look at repairing problems in and generally strengthening your marriage. This will not only help your AFS, it will also benefit your life overall as well.
Does holding hands reduce stress? Well, the simple answer is yes. Holding hands has immense power to soothe anxiety, relieve fear, and even diminish pain. And it’s a feel-better strategy that can be performed anywhere and in any situation. So, here’s how to get the most from holding hands:
For more strategies on stress reduction, click here to use our Ask The Doctor system or talk to one of our staff at +1 (626) 571-1234.
When you’re asking yourself, does holding hands reduce stress, you need to look at the importance of human connection. Human beings need connections with others to be healthy mentally, emotionally, and even physically. That’s why holding hands has so much power to impact your wellbeing.
