says this, but also it’s actually
quite “unnatural” – and I use that
word in the context of our mostnatural state of living and being
as a human. We literally need
touch to survive past infancy. It’s
not an option actually – many illconsidered studies in the early
1900’s discovered this through
studying orphaned infants in a
touch-deprived
environment.
To the horror of all of us, they
discovered the profound link
between “failure to thrive” and
infant touch, with the majority of
the infants in the study dying and
the rest of them being significantly
developmentally delayed.
So with that horrible truth
presented, how is it that we can
enter a state in our lives where we
don’t like to be touched? We are
social beings, and a HUGE amount
of information can be relayed
through touch.
Yes, there are clearly certain
psychological
traumas
and
different
forms
of
abuse
associated with this and they are
an entire topic of discussion on
their own. There are also strong
links with this phenomenon and
certain medical conditions such
as autism-spectrum disorders.
However, these are separate
discussions and what I’m talking
about here is a phenomenon
where there are seemingly no
developmental disorders and no
history of significant trauma/abuse.
There’s
a
documented
phenomenon called “sensory
defensiveness” that is believed
to impact about 15 percent
of the population! It’s cause is
largely undetermined, yet can
include any number of factors
including all environmental and
possibly even some genetic links.
It’s been reported to present as
a hypersensitivity to touch (and
often, other sensory input such
as hearing, sight and so on), in
all scenarios including clothing
and jewelry, walking barefoot,
hugging and other social touch,
and intimate touch even between
partners.
Not only is this driven by elements
of psychology, but when placed
in scenarios of touch, these
people also experience significant
psychological discomfort – ranging
from anxiety, to psychological
withdrawal, social isolation and
even a physical response of
shaking. These all have significant
effects on everyday living.