Therapy that discovers the importance of a hug

• May 8, 2024

According to Lía Barbery, Uruguayan therapist who created the System Abrazotherapy and author of the book "The language of hugs " , the scientific basis of therapeutic power The hug is expressed in the gesture of the mother when she takes her son and "as in the delivery or when breastfeeding, your brain is secreting the hormone oxytocin, known to be the hormone of" attachment ". Thanks to her, the baby feels united to his mother and protected from all danger. " In the act of embrace, adds the founder of the non-governmental organization Embracing Without Borders , not only oxytocin acts, but also the release of serotonin and dopamine in the brain, thanks to which we experience a pleasant sensation of wellbeing, harmony and fullness at the moment of the hug.

For Kathleen Keating, author of the book "The Hug Therapy "They help us not only to feel good, but also to promote the good development of intelligence in children, to overcome fears and it is an anti-aging factor. In addition, hugs can reduce appetite, combat insomnia, reduce tension and encourage selflessness and self-esteem. The physical contact of the embrace full of energy both the one who embraces and the one who receives the hug. A study shows that caresses and hugs do good to the heart of women.

What are hugs for?

The Contact Research Institute of the University School of Medicine in Miami, United States, has conducted more than 100 studies on the effects of contact in the recovery of health. According to their results, hugging, touching and touching have a highly positive effect, for example, on the best and fastest recovery of premature babies, in the increase in analgesia in patients with pain, in the improvement of glucose levels in children with diabetes and in the immune system in patients with cancer, among other effects noted.

The doctor David Spiegel of the University of Stanford California, United States is a pioneer in observing the correlation between greater longevity and therapeutic group support in women with metastatic breast cancer. According to his researches, the hug as affective support improved the quality of life Y diminished the pain of many patients. But what is most revealing is that it has shown that pain was not only reduced by 50%, but that patients lived twice as long (the women in the control group lived an average of 18.9 months, whereas those in the group receiving treatment support lived 36.6 months).

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