Friends for life
You’ve always
counted
on your pals for
laughter, encouragement, sympathy, and
brutally honest fashion advice.
Now you
can add this to the
list:
amazing health.
BY MICHELE MEYER
I
t was Jessica GuenzePs 30th birthday,
but her mood was far from festive. “I’m
an outgoing person, the type who could
talk to a
t r e e
says Jessica, now 31, a
medical writer in North Carolina. “And
yet there I was on my big day— in a city where
I had lived and worked for several years— with
no circle of friends to go out and celebrate
with. I felt frustrated and very alone.”
As it turns out, loneliness like Jessica’s
has become the norm in recent years. When
researchers at Duke University compared
results of surveys conducted in 1985 and
2004, they found that Americans’ social
circles had shrunk by one-third in the
interim. Now the average person has just
two close confidants (down from three in
1985), who are far more likely to be family
members than unrelated pals. And that
applies only to those of us who are confiding
in anyone at all. Fully 25 percent of survey respon-
dents in 2004 admitted they had no close relation-
ships— inside their families or out.
Meanwhile, a growing number of studies
reveal that we have much to gain by bucking this
trend. “Social interactions have profound physi-
ological benefits, from reduced risk of depression
to enhanced immune function,” says Stephen S.
Ilardi, Ph.D.?
author of
The Depression Cure
(Da
Capo Lifelong) and an associate professor of clinical
psychology at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.
“The link likely goes back to our ancestors, for
whom social isolation was physically dangerous.
That danger may have receded in modern times, yet
the advantages of social support remain.”
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
It doesn’t take long for camaraderie to work its
magic, “Levels of the toxic stress hormone cortisol
drop precipitously when we find ourselves in the
company of our friends and loved ones,” Ilardi
explains. “If you layer in the physical touch of a
friend, you also experience increased activity of the
feel-good brain chemicals dopamine and oxytocin.”
In addition to chasing away the blues, this response
can zap chronic stress— with potentially lifesaving
results. “Persistently high levels of stress hormones
promote inflammation, a prime culprit in diseases
such as fibromyalgia and type 2 diabetes,” Ilardi
savs. “Stress hormones also are associated with
shrinkage of the brain’s memory centers and
frontal cortex, the seat of abstract reasoning.”
Prioritizing friendship: officially a smart move.
Your heart will thank you, too, says John T.
Cacioppo, Ph.D., director of the Center for
Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of
Chicago. “In our research, loneliness led to
increased blood pressure, as well as higher morning
rises in cortisol and less restful sleep,” he explains.
Lonely people also tend to adopt unhealthy habits
such as avoiding exercise, which can further
increase the risk of heart disease.
And lest you think the perks of friendship are
limited to long-term disease prevention, consider
this: In a landmark 1997 study at Carnegie Mellon
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UE TT E R HOMES Д \ 0 G A R D E N 'S I
APRIL 2011 |
HHG.COM
PHOTO: MARTY ËALDWIN
