Why Touch Matters- And Why It's So Powerful

 It is no surprise that touch has been an important factor in well-being throughout history. The lack of physical touch, especially as a child, has been shown to lead to oversensitivity, hostility, depression, loneliness, and more. There is a reason that most newborn babies are placed on the stomach after birth—it provides comfort to both parties, allows the infant to become familiar with the scent of its parents, allows for a smooth transition into breastfeeding, and also releases oxytocin. Touch is a nurturing interaction between individuals, and it provides a strong ground for bonding and communication, as well as affirms social bonds, for example, receiving a handshake from an employer, or high-fiving a teammate after a game. It can also yield negative social bonds, as Constance examines in The Deepest Sense, with pain being used to enforce religious expectations. 

Physical touch can be as intimate as a handshake or a clasp of the shoulder, to kissing or sex. The intimacy of touch isn't inherently romantic or sexual, but it is intimate nonetheless, though an individual shaking the hands of a potential employer would not immediately consider it so. Regardless, touch is an essential part of life: humans have evolved to respond to touch and to use touch to navigate the environment. Physical contact is soothing, comforting, and provides a sense of safety, so it is no wonder that Classen writes that "Servants, furthermore, would often sleep in or beside their master’s or mistress’s bedroom. At night the great hall of the manor house might be turned into one vast dormitory for knights and servants, who would sleep on the table boards and floors" (Classen 3). Being close to another person provides much relief and a feeling of protection, as well as warmth and general comfort. 

However, not everyone responds to physical touch the same way, especially if there was a lack of touch in early development, or if there was an abuse of touch. Some people also aren't very touchy-feely— Gary Chapman's Five Love Languages proposes five different ways of expressing and receiving love: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. Chapman's love languages were originally intended to describe the kinds of love between two romantic partners, but these expressions can be applied to platonic and familial love as well. 

Physical affection, when desired, has innumerable positive effects, but as mentioned before, touch can also be detrimental. Pain is an excruciating feeling, whereas positive affection triggers oxytocin. Touch is the most powerful sense because it can determine the outcome of a person's trajectory. Touch has the power to end a life and to show love. And everything in between. Physical touch can cause a person to thrive, or to wilt under the mistreatment of another.