The saying that who has friends has everything, has gained even more credibility. Is that a survey conducted by Harvard Medical School in the United States? one of the most highly regarded universities in the world? states that friendship can positively interfere with people's health, including increasing life expectancy.
According to research, friendship works as a motivational factor that infects people by helping them achieve better well-being, happiness, quality of life and improving their mood through the simple influence one person can have on another.
According to the thesis, sedentary people are more likely to adhere to an exercise routine when they get to live with gym practitioners. Similarly, those who accompany a friend who has quit smoking are more likely to quit smoking. In other words, becoming part of a group of friends with healthy habits will sooner or later end up adhering to this model of life.
According to psychologists, this process is part of the need and the natural instinct of the human being to become equal to be accepted by the group, a fact that happens since the early days when primates came together to protect themselves from other larger groups ensuring survival.
Based on the research, it would not be frivolous to say that happiness is contagious, because according to her, living with optimistic and happy people increases their chances of feeling happy by up to 60%.
But since not everything is flowers, just as positive attitudes are contagious, negative ones can also influence people's lives and behavior, remembering that old saying, "Tell me who you walk with and I'll tell you who you are."
Of course there are exceptions; after all, there are people who are more susceptible and influential than others, open and vulnerable to any kind of change, whether for good or for bad.
While many are investing in self-help books, therapy sessions, and even remedies for a healthier, happier life, an alternative to improving well-being may be to invest in expanding the friendship cycle.
In another survey of 1500 people in Australia as part of a study called Longitudinal Study of Aging, several seniors were asked about their social activity, profession, how much time they had available to devote to their children, grandchildren and other relatives and how many friends they had. . Over the years, and among several assessments made with the group, scientists have observed that people who had a longer cycle of friends lived longer.
In another study conducted by the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, it was found that patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and who lived surrounded by friends, had the symptoms of the disease, which according to Dr. Wayne Matthews of the University of North Carolina doesn't explain it, but it works as a kind of friendship magic that protects the patient and delays the manifestations of the disease.
One way to try to understand what happens is by analyzing that real friends, as well as close relatives, always cherish the person's good above all, so they encourage each other to take care of their health and to have life habits and healthy eating.
Anyone who has real friends knows the difference it makes to have someone vent, confide, or simply keep company at a difficult time. Advice from friends, even if not right, starts from the basic premise that we want each other well and that already works as a factor to give more security, the feeling that even if everything goes wrong, you will never be alone .
In the case of women, friendship seems to be an even longer factor in relation to men. According to Harvard research, women who have trusted friends find it easier to overcome the loss of their husbands.
In addition to these researches, there are a number of others that prove by A + B that having friends and relating to them is a factor that is directly linked to health, mood, healing and better outcome in treating illness, professional success, to the physical and psychological well-being, the improvement of the disposition, the way of facing the life overcoming difficulties, among others. Therefore, you have a number of good reasons to take care of your friends and make each day more and more friends to multiply the joys and share the sadness that may appear.
Now that you have just read this article, how about using it as a great excuse to gather friends and celebrate life?
Frientimacy: The 3 Requirements of All Healthy Friendships | Shasta Nelson | TEDxLaSierraUniversity (March 2024)
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