Being around family and or friends you love and enjoy can help reduce stress. Spending time with ones you are close with can take your mind off of whatever anything stressing you out. Getting out and laughing with your friends can have amazing benefits; laughter is proven to do good things for your body. Laughing alone acts as a stress reducer. So add that laughter with an enjoyable environment with your friends and you’ve got a powerful stress reducer.
Everyone needs to feel loved and supported,especially as we grow older. As we age, friends truly can be lifesavers. The friend who brings the chicken soup makes as much difference in feeling better faster as the soup itself. Conversation, sharing, being in touch with others who have active, involved lives gives living a purpose. Sharing with friends helps multiply the joys and divide the sorrows.
Proof:
Several studies report fewer colds, lower blood pressure and lower heart rates in participants with strong social ties. Statistics show that marriage, perhaps the strongest tie, adds years to life expectancy. And suicide, mental illness and alcoholism rates are much lower when people feel a sense of belonging. Evidence of the benefits of social interactions was found in these studies:
Although none of these studies can necessary be "proven" people who were more social have had positive effects all around in body and in mind.
Everyone needs to feel loved and supported,especially as we grow older. As we age, friends truly can be lifesavers. The friend who brings the chicken soup makes as much difference in feeling better faster as the soup itself. Conversation, sharing, being in touch with others who have active, involved lives gives living a purpose. Sharing with friends helps multiply the joys and divide the sorrows.
Proof:
Several studies report fewer colds, lower blood pressure and lower heart rates in participants with strong social ties. Statistics show that marriage, perhaps the strongest tie, adds years to life expectancy. And suicide, mental illness and alcoholism rates are much lower when people feel a sense of belonging. Evidence of the benefits of social interactions was found in these studies:
- In one study, medical students who were assigned to work in pairs had lower stress levels than those who were assigned to work alone.
- Another study reported that elderly people who like to eat out, go to movies and take part in other social activities live an average of two and a half years longer than people who spend most of their time alone. The physical health benefits of socializing were equal to physical exercise, even though the social activities involved almost no physical exertion. It wasn't physical activity or physical health but feeling worthwhile that led to longer life. Good health and eating counted, but it was social interaction that was responsible for the results.
- In one experiment, paid volunteers had a cold virus sprayed in their noses. The people with very few or no social contacts were four times more likely to come down with cold symptoms than those with lots of social contacts.
Although none of these studies can necessary be "proven" people who were more social have had positive effects all around in body and in mind.