Touch. It's a human need. Babies in orphan nurseries, who are properly fed and kept warm and clean but not given enough touch, can die. The need for human touch never goes away. While our elders often lose the keen hearing they once enjoyed, and their eyes grow dim, their need for touch doesn't diminish. If anything, it increases, as they are already experiencing sensory deprivation from the loss of other senses.

Depression can result from a lot of things, but I believe the lack of gentle,...