What will happen to handshakes and hugs after COVID?

Despite some loosening of restrictions, social distancing measures are still in effect inmost cases.

With the virus shifting pretty much everything lately, it's not a surprise thateven the simplest joys like hugs are now under threat of disappearing.

Will hugs andhandshakes become obsolete for good another part of our new normal? Scientistsfear more of us are starving for touch, another unfortunate outcome of the pandemic.

Scientists claim that touch is the fundamental language of connection and that in thewake of social isolation from the pandemic,many of us are experiencing touchdeprivation a serious problem that can negatively impact our immune system, make us less empathetic and unbearably lonely.

It can be especially hard for seniors in nursing homesand those in the hospital sick without the ability to have visitors. By placing six-foot barriers between us and everyone else,we may be preventing thespread of infection but we're also preventing the spread of human connection,something that we're all hardwired for and it's playing a major role in our unhappiness.

• Ontarians get OK to build social bubbles of 10 people and yes, you can hug

Since skin is the largest organ in the body with billions of cells that process information constantlyeach fingertip, for example, has over 3,000 receptors when we hug or feel a friendly touch on our skin, our brains release oxytocin.

Affectionately known as the "cuddlehormone," oxytocin sends out signals to our brains flooding us with positive, feel-goodsensations of trust, emotional bonding and social connection, perhaps more importantly rightnow, it also decreases fear and anxiety responses.

Positive touch also regulates digestion, helps us sleep well and it activates parts of our brain that help usempathize. Ironically, it also improves our immune system so we're less likely to catchcolds and other illnesses. Obviously, we need positive touchand the adverse effects of livingwithout it are cause for concern.

Touch deprivation, also known as skin starvation, can feel similar to being starved for food and can impact people on a psychological and even physical level. A lack of touch increases our likelihood for depression, causes anxietyand can make us feel increasingly withdrawn from theworld.

Prior to COVID, anyone feeling touch deprived could find comfort through a haircut or amassage but for obvious reasons those options haven't been as easily available.

Unfortunately, since the lockdown happened rather quickly, we went from all to nothing overnight. Whether it was shaking a coworker's hand or hugging a friend, most of us wereaccustomed to some level of platonic physical touch on a daily basis.

Now, for anyonequarantining alone or with others who they don't share physical contact, loneliness and socialisolation is a major problem.

Loneliness epidemic not new

Across the board, loneliness has become a major health concern globally. In Canada, pre-COVID, 1.9 million people claimed to be lonely the U.K. even appointed a Minister of Loneliness afterlearning nine million of their residents were lonely often or always. A recent survey stated 25per cent of millennials believe they have zero friends. It's an epidemic with massive healthimplications.

Several large research studies have learned that the impact of loneliness on ourhealth is the equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. So, this lockdown is just exacerbating analready pressing health problem. But when you dig into the biggest threats to loneliness andtouch deprivation,teens and our older community members are at the greatest risk.

This is a tough time for teens to be without social connectedness,not just becausedepression and anxiety are worrisome issues for this specific group, but they are naturallylooking to receive physical contact from friends as opposed to their parents.

So, even if theyaren't quarantining alone, they may still be lacking that bonding they need to be mentally welland we shouldn't be overlooking that. Parents need to proactively reach out despite theirteen's awkwardness with hugs and physical contact.

Our older population is vulnerable to the coronavirus, and that means even more stringent social isolation practices, butloneliness may have already been an existing threat long beforethe recent self-isolation period began.

According to census data, approximately 25 per cent of people over 65 are livingalone and within that group is a subgroup named "elder orphans" by New York basedresearchers. They have no spouse or children and limited community support.

Loneliness is already a worrisome issue for this demographic but with so many restrictions on long-term carefacilitieswalled off from any kind of interaction,this can be intensely isolating. On theflipside, positive touch can decrease chronic pain and it even helps increase food intake andmedication compliance,so it is necessary for us to get back to that human touch andinteraction with our older population as soon as it's safe to do so.

Stave off skin starvation while distancing

The good news is that there are many ways we mimic the good chemistry that comes from human touch. Although wecan't replace human touch, we can make social isolation a little biteasier. Here are some suggestions from scientists:

1. Take warm baths.
2. Cuddle up under a weighted blanket.
3. Find time to be cozy something called Hygge, made popular by the Danes which caninclude a variety of activities like drinking warm tea while reading a good book, tothrowing on comfy clothes and watching a feel-good movie.
4. Researchers from the University of Miami suggest that there are massive benefits tohaving a pet right now because the act of petting an animal can reduce touchdeprivation.
5. We should try to get as much exercise as we can simply walking around our roomstimulates the pressure receptors in your feet.
6. Finally, tech still has benefits. Although we know there is some burnout related to toomany Zoom or Skype calls lately, scientists say we can mimic the cuddle hormoneover video conferencing if we can look into someone's eyes and see their smile.

The future of hugs and handshakes?

Do I believe hugs and handshakes will become obsolete? My answer is nobut with a small caveat.

Platonic and romantic touch will always be in high demand. We humans are hardwiredto seek it out. But I do think that until there is a vaccine, the way we interact with strangers andco-workers in the short term will change.

We've already started to form habits that excludeshandshakes and we only hug people in our small bubble, and not justas a general rule foranyone who used to hug everyone they met.

And, the thing with habits is that they normalize, and our brainchanges to support those habits.

So, if this is our new normal,it may becomeour forever normal. But I do believe touch is entrenched in our humanity, and right now we need empathy and hugs and outstretched hands more than ever before.