National Hug Day: what is it and when is it?

Hugging someone isn’t just enjoyable, it’s also good for your health; it reduces stress and stimulates your mental health. This is enough reason for us to shine a light on National Hug Day on 21 January. In the past year, we all experienced first-hand what it means to keep your distance from other people. This article explains how important physical contact is.

What is National Hug Day?

National Hug Day was created in the US in 1986 by Kevin Zaborney. His reason for creating a special hug day was that ‘American society is too shy to express emotions publicly’ and he hoped that people would hug their friends and family more often if there was a national hugging day. His expectations of this day weren’t very high by the way. But it is acutally becoming increasingly well known, even in other countries.

”National Hug Day was created in the US in 1986 by Kevin Zaborney.”

Zaborney is right about the shyness of Western society when it comes to expressing emotions. Even before the pandemic, scientists studied the ‘crisis of touch’ and their research showed that in Western society, touching others is often avoided. Especially Western men almost never touch each other.

When is National Hug Day?

National Hug Day is on 21 January every year. The first National Hug Day was in 1986. 21 January isn’t just a randomly chosen date. It’s between New Year’s Day and Valentine’s Day, which is a period that is often experienced as particularly dark and difficult by many people. It’s definitely not a coincidence that Blue Monday is around that date as well. For example, in 2021, Blue Monday is on 18 January. Because many people can use a little pick-me-up around that time, National Hug Day was intentionally planned during those cold winter months.

The importance of hugging

The importance of hugging and physical contact has been proven countless times: people need to be hugged. In fact, physical contact is one of the things that we need most in our lives. If children don’t get hugged often, it negatively affects their development. Think about babies who feel safe and comforted in the arms of their parents for example. Older children still need physical contact, as do adults. Anthropologist Ashley Montagu says: “This is because we don’t consider touch to be something physical, but an emotional reaction.” Our skin contains receptors that evoke an emotional response.

”If children don’t get hugged often, it negatively affects their development.”

Hugging has a significant positive influence on your mental health. For example, hugging encourages your body to release the hormone oxytocin, which makes you feel connected and happy. Dopamine also provides a happy and content feeling. Together with serotonin, these hormones make sure you experience less stress and anxiety. Your body benefits from physical contact as well. It’s good for your immune system, heart, and blood vessels among other things. If you get a lot of hugs, there’s a good chance that your blood pressure and heart beat is lower than people who don’t get hugged as often.

Also read: The effect of human touch on your mental health

Alternatives for (human) touch

A lack of physical contact is also called skin hunger. Babies can suffer from it, but adults as well. The difficulty that we’re collectively facing right now is that we’re not allowed to hug each other if we’re not part of the same household. This can be quite a challenge for single people who live alone. That loving hug from your mother or best friend will have to wait. Still, there are plenty of other ways to satisfy your skin hunger in the meantime.

Hug your pet

Hugging other people isn’t the only way to increase your hormone levels. Hugging your pet also releases oxytocin in your body. We admit that petting your rabbit or hugging your dog is not the same as getting a loving hug from a partner. But it’s still the best alternative for satisfying skin hunger.

Touching yourself

Although it’s not the same as a hug, if you touch yourself in a conscious way you can satisfy your need for physical contact. This can be in a sexual way, but it doesn’t have to be. Simply by consciously touching yourself, you can experience pleasure from your own physical contact. Take some extra time to put body lotion on your body and really massage it into your skin. You can increase this effect by touching yourself more than usual in the shower or bath beforehand.

Also read: The self-pleasure guide for a rainy day