Touch - 9780262526593

Although the therapeutic benefits of touch have become increasingly clear, Americansociety, claims Tiffany Field, is dangerously touch-deprived. Many schools have "no touch"policies; the isolating effects of Internet-driven work and life can leave us hungry for tactileexperience. In this book Field explains why we may need a daily dose of touch. The first sensoryinput in life comes from the sense of touch while a baby is still in the womb, and touch continuesto be the primary means of learning about the world throughout infancy and well into childhood.Touch is critical, too, for adults' physical and mental health. Field describes studies showing thattouch therapy can benefit everyone, from premature infants to children with asthma to patients withconditions that range from cancer to eating disorders.

This second edition ofTouch, revised and updated with the latest research, reports on new studies thatshow the role of touch in early development, in communication (including the reading of others'emotions), in personal relationships, and even in sports. It describes the physiological andbiological effects of touch, including areas of the brain affected by touch, and the effects ofmassage therapy on prematurity, attentiveness, depression, pain, and immune functions. Touch hasbeen shown to have positive effects on growth, brain waves, breathing, and heart rate, and todecrease stress and anxiety. As Field makes clear, we enforce our society's touch taboo at ourperil.