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Friendships: Enrich your life and improve your health
Friendships can be good for you. Find out about the connection between your health and friendship, and how to promote and maintain healthy friendships.
By Mayo Clinic staffFriendships 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
- Reduce stress
- Improve your self-worth
- Help you cope with traumas, such as divorce, serious illness, job loss or the death of a loved one
- Encourage you to change or avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as excessive drinking or lack of exercise
Why is it sometimes hard to make friends or maintain friendships?
Many adults find it hard to develop new friendships or keep up existing friendships. Friendships may take a back seat to other priorities, such as work or caring for children or aging parents. You and your friends may have grown apart due to changes in your lives or interests. Or maybe you've moved to a new community and haven't yet found a way to meet people. Developing and maintaining good friendships takes effort. The enjoyment and comfort friendship can provide, however, makes the investment worthwhile.
What's a healthy number of friends?
There's no need to aim for a specific number of friends. Some people benefit from a large and diverse network of friends, while others prefer a smaller circle of friends and acquaintances. There are also different types of friendship. You may have a few close friends you turn to for deeply personal conversations, and more casual friends with whom you see movies, play basketball or share backyard cookouts. Consider what works for you. Overall, the quality of your relationships is more important than the specific number of friends you have.
Next page(1 of 2)
- Making and keeping friends: A self-help guide. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content//SMA-3716/SMA-3716.pdf. Accessed Dec. 29, 2010.
- Mendes de Leon CF. Why do friendships matter for survival? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2005;59:537.
- Rogers ES. The nature and dimensions of social support among individuals with severe mental illnesses. Community Mental Health Journal. 2004;40:437.
- Demir M, et al. Looking to happy tomorrows with friends: Best and close friendships as they predict happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies. 2007;8:243.
- Hawkley LC, et al. From social structural factors to perceptions of relationship quality and loneliness: The Chicago health, aging and social relations study. Journal of Gerontology. 2008;63B:S375.
- Mellor D. Need for belonging, relationship satisfaction, loneliness, and life satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences. 2008;45:213.
- Pollet TV, et al. Use of social network sites and instant messaging does not lead to increased offline social network size, or to emotionally closer relationships with offline network members. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking. 2010.
- Creagan ET (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Jan. 21, 2011.
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