STUDY: HUGS WORK ON DE-STRESSING WOMEN, NOT SO MUCH FOR MEN

You had a bad day, ma’am? How about a hug. According to a new study from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One, a hug can make a big difference in stress levels for women, but not so much for men. Researchers analyzed how 76 people responded to stress after a hug from a romantic partner. Women who got to hug their significant other showed a decrease in the production of cortisol – a stress hormone – compared with those who did not. Men didn’t seem to get that same perk, according to the study.
* You know why? The men were probably thinking, “A random hug. This is a hashtag-MeToo trap, isn’t it?”
* It also doesn’t help getting hugged while knowing you’re about to be jabbed by a needle for a blood sample.
* So maybe it’s hug-jab-hug.
* How about giving the men a hug and, say, a glass of bourbon. See how that works as a de-stresser.
* Or let the man watch two women hug. That could work.
* What’s with the hugging? I thought they were all into marijuana for relaxing over in the Netherlands?