Friendships can have a major impact on your health and well-being, but it's not always easy to build or maintain friendships. Understand the importance of friendships in your life and what you can do to develop and nurture friendships. What are the benefits of friendships? Good friends are good for your health. Friends can help you celebrate good times and provide support during bad times. Friends prevent loneliness and give you a chance to offer needed companionship, too. Friends can also: Increase your sense of belonging and purpose Boost your happiness and reduce your stress Improve your self-confidence and self-worth. Help you cope with traumas, such as divorce, serious illness, job loss or the death of a loved one
Friends also play a significant role in promoting your overall health.
Encourage you to change or avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as excessive drinking or lack of exercise.
Adults with strong social support have a reduced risk of many significant health problems, including depression, high blood pressure and an unhealthy body mass. Studies have even found that older adults with a rich social life are likely to live longer than their peers with fewer connections.
What's a healthy number of friends?
Quality counts more than quantity. While it's good to cultivate a diverse network of friends and acquaintances, you also want to nurture a few truly close friends who will be there for you through thick and thin!