Why friends can promote physical, mental and spiritual health Study: Linked to Lower Stress in the Brain’s ‘Love Hormone’.

For most people, friendship is an important element of life, and sharing experiences is an important human behavior. Numerous studies have shown that loneliness can negatively affect our sense of well-being. We don’t have to be social all the time, sometimes we need to enjoy our space, but all people need social interaction. That’s why people make friends and take pains to keep them, and high-quality friendships benefit everyone.

Loneliness can lead to many mental illnesses such as depression, personality disorders, sleep disturbances, and alcoholism, and it can even lead to physical health problems. So can socializing help prevent mental health problems? The answer is yes, friends protect us from the effects of loneliness, and having good friendships can buffer us from the detrimental effects of loneliness.

Good friendships promote physical, mental and spiritual health

But what is a good friendship? Sociologists believe that high-quality friendships have 3 characteristics: support, reciprocity, and intimacy. Good friendships provide a strong sense of companionship, lessen feelings of isolation, and help increase life satisfaction and a sense of self-worth. There is a two-way feedback relationship between social connection and self-worth, and each reinforces the other, so friendship can promote self-worth, which is an important factor in physical and mental health.

Lack of social interaction doesn’t just affect our mental health. A low quantity or quality of social connections has been linked to many physical health problems, such as cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, cancer and impaired immune function.

Social isolation and loneliness have about the same negative impact on health as obesity, physical inactivity, or smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and are linked to an increased risk of dementia. Just taking a moment to connect with someone, even a brief phone chat, can reduce feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and depression, and provide brain health benefits.

Strong friendships can reduce risk factors for poor long-term health, including weight, blood pressure and inflammation levels. Emotional support plays an important role in health, having someone who listens and understands how you feel is an important structure in modern life and can simultaneously promote and support healthier lifestyles to improve health.

Why is friendship good for us?

All the scientific evidence shows that social connection is good for our physical and mental health, but why? The key may be oxytocin, also known as the “love hormone.” Oxytocin is a hormone and neurotransmitter that is produced in the hypothalamus. Oxytocin is involved in childbirth and breastfeeding, but is also associated with empathy, generosity, and trust, all of which are key elements of friendship.

But why does oxytocin have mind, body, and mind benefits? This may be due to its effect on the stress hormone (cortisol). When a person is under stress, the adrenal glands release cortisol, which is good in certain situations because it prepares us to act, but it can be a health hazard when it’s chronically high, and chronically high cortisol can lead to high Blood pressure, diabetes and fatigue.

So lowering cortisol levels is an important key, and that’s what friendship and social bonding are all about. When we relax through positive social interactions, the body releases oxytocin, which leads to lower cortisol levels and blood pressure.

The quality of friends is more important than the quantity

Friends are important, but it’s not about quantity, the quality of those connections, whether online or in the real world, can give you valuable benefits of meaningful, supportive feelings.

We all enjoy our time by ourselves, and some friendships can have a negative impact on our mental and physical health, but there is plenty of evidence that social connections are good for us. So even those who are introverts or prefer to be alone should realize that getting out and connecting with others can make us happier and healthier.