Friendship: Good for the Body, Good for the Soul
In Conclusion
A growing body of research confirms that having compassionate friends is beneficial for our psychological and spiritual well-being—and for physical health. Thus, one can say that a healthy lifestyle includes not only eating well, exercising, and avoiding tobacco but also having a circle of friends. In fact, researcher Janice Kiecolt-Glaser of Ohio State University calls the connection between satisfying personal relationships and better immune function "one of the most robust findings" in psycho-neuro-immunology, (the study of how emotions, stress, and behavior affect resistance to disease.)
Having a strong social network is linked to lower mortality rates for both healthy and unhealthy people, including those with heart disease and some types of cancer. In cases of terminal illness, having close friends is associated with longer survival rates.
Research has found not only that friendship benefits us, but that the lack of it harms us. Those who have no friends or close ties seem to suffer the most from loneliness, social isolation, and feelings of worthlessness. These with such feelings feel great stress, and stress contributes to a variety of health disorders. These disorders include heart attacks, asthma, certain types of cancer, diabetes, herpes, headaches, and even the common cold! As James S. House of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research stated, "Social relationships, or the relative lack thereof, constitute a major risk factor for health—rivaling the effects of well-established health risk factors such as cigarette smoking, blood pressure, blood lipids, obesity, and physical activity."
What is the scientific explanation for such findings? One can well argue that humans are social creatures and therefore need to bond in order to lead a healthy life. Just as the baby monkey will not survive without the love of its mother, perhaps humans require bonding in order to be whole.
Friends act as buffers between us and stressful events. They also cause us to feel cared for and loved. These feelings in turn cause us to feel worthy of love. This feeling of worthiness helps us to think differently, which positively affects our attitude toward stressful events.
Friendship helps us travel life’s roads with health, high confidence, low stress, dignity, and joy. In other words, friendship is good for us, body and soul!
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