A closer look
The old cliché that holding hands makes everything better is actually a hard, peer-reviewed neurological fact. According to Social Baseline Theory, the human brain isn't designed to face the world alone. When you are isolated, your brain views the environment as vastly more dangerous and expends massive metabolic energy to prepare for attacks. Simply holding the hand of someone you trust essentially outsources your anxiety to their nervous system, tricking your brain into turning off its threat alarms and dialing down literal, physical agony.
