{"id":170,"date":"2020-05-15T01:23:27","date_gmt":"2020-05-15T00:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.jomec.co.uk\/life360\/?p=170"},"modified":"2022-04-25T11:20:04","modified_gmt":"2022-04-25T10:20:04","slug":"in-and-out-of-touch-is-skin-hunger-skin-deep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/in-and-out-of-touch-is-skin-hunger-skin-deep\/","title":{"rendered":"In and Out of Touch: Is Skin Hunger Skin Deep?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Deprived of the slightest touch, millions in lockdown feel what psychologists refer to as \u2018skin hunger,\u2019 humans\u2019 primitive need for physical contact. But in a forcibly touch-less world, do we crave something deeper<\/strong>?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It was day 48 when Perrey Lee finally cried. Or 50. Whichever day it was since March 15, the last day she touched a human. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee, who lives alone, was doing it all: she jogged, meditated, groomed five chickens, walked her dog and nurtured saplings. She chatted with the neighbours, Zoomed her family and every Saturday morning, just barely, she grazed the hand that passed her coffee from the drive-thru window. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But on 1 May, 45 minutes into the Iceman Special\u2019s livestream dance party, the 45-year-old lawyer abandoned her fellow dancers in their virtual Houseparty app. She watched the remaining set alone from her living room until her favourite band too signed off into virtual oblivion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, sitting on her couch, Lee cried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hate people who say this is the new normal. It can\u2019t be. Without that \u2014 \u201d Lee touches her skin softly \u201c \u2014 just that little bit, I feel fake. Like I\u2019m not being seen. I\u2019m not actually here. Like I\u2019m not real.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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