Why does touching/being touched make one cry harder?

I've noticed this in myself a few times. When you're feeling sad and someone touches you it seems to release so much emotion.

Today I hugged a woman I hardly know and she just sobbed and sobbed.

She walks her dog past my house every day and we usually speak.

Sometimes our dogs play together.

Today she walked past and told me she had finally encounted the "horrid neighbor" who said something mean to her (like she does to everyone who has a dog) and that it was so awful because today was the anniversary of something terribly sad in her life. (It was a heartbreaking story.)

So I hugged her.

And honestly, I could feel her sadness and her relief at letting the tears come.

When I'm feeling sad I can usually hold things together pretty well until someone touches me.

What is it about touching, even when it's someone you don't really know well, that helps release emotion?

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Thanks for the welcome, Olga and Osso.
For now I'm just tentively exploring a2k after such a long time away.

Can't find any spell check. Boy, am I in trouble.

"From our brain's point of view, we can hear with our eyes,"