Human Touch
Human contact makes us into the human beings we are and sets us apart from other animals. Love develops when a child has formed a strong attachment to another human being. This is what is called “infant-mother bonding”. The whole process of feeding, loving touch, gazing at the face, eye-to-eye contact, voice, the smell of the mother’s body – all elements of physical closeness and touch – help to strengthen the bonding.
In the absence of bonding and healthy attachment with an adult, a child may develop life-long emotional disturbances. Symptoms could include becoming withdrawn, disinterested and depressed. In addition, the child may suffer pronounced physical consequences such as, being physically small, underweight, sickly, and undernourished. Such a child may survive but not thrive. Psychology has long identified this as “failure to thrive syndrome.”
Human touch is an integral part of health, balance and vitality for people of all ages.