Another Solid Reason to Be Thankful for Your Best Friends
Whether you have a dozen best pals that you brunch with every single Sunday or just a few super close confidants that you spend every waking, non-working moment with, friends are a real lifesaver. And I mean that quite literally, according to a new study.
Fascinating research just published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that having a substantial circle of friends does more than simply boost your social life—it’s also shown to improve both mental health and physical wellbeing.
A psychology professor from Concordia University in Quebec analyzed a group of international students who had just moved to Montreal. For five months, the participants filled out questionnaires measuring their social integration and feelings of loneliness in the new city. But the researchers were interested in much more than just the mental health aspect of things. Because they wanted to see if loneliness had any sort of impact on ones’ physical wellbeing, too, they also monitored the participants’ heart rate variability, an indicator of how well your nervous system functions. (High heart rate variability is a good thing; low frequency rates can lead to long-term cardiac disease.)
The study found that students who made friends easily and became involved in different social networks ranked higher. Meanwhile, those who had a harder time forming relationships showed decreases. It doesn’t take a scientist to know that social isolation isn’t healthy, but it’s interesting to know that friendship has a big impact on both mental and physical health.
Lesson learned: Focus on strengthening your friendships—and be open to new ones while you’re at it. Having strong social networks and close ties to your community not only makes you happier, but it makes you healthier, too.
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Image Credit: Richard Wear/Design Pics