Did you know that people who have strong social connections with a few or more people will actually live longer than those who don’t?
Yes, it’s true. According to a study published in 2010 by Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah
researchers discovered that just as exercising regularly, not smoking and getting enough sleep contribute to pe
ople living longer and healthier lives, so does having positive social bonds with a group of friends —regardless of how many. Those with positive family bonds counted just as those with friends–it is the interactions that count not necessarily where they come from.
They found that those with a few or more social connections are 50 percent more likely to live longer than those who had similar backgrounds but lived alone and rarely socialized with others. I found it interesting that they compared having little to no social bonds to be as damaging as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, drinking too much or being obese.
According to author Julianne Holt-Lunstad, associate professor of psychology at BYU,
she believes that this research shows that people should take having good social relationships as seriously as being healthy in other areas of their lives. Their conclusions came from reviewing more than 148 published studies that measured how often humans interacted with one another and the impact it made on their lives.
This study unfortunately came out before the social media craze hit like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so it didn’t speak to the actual qualitative nature of relationships on people’s health. I will be doing more blog posts on that research as I find it. However for me, I like the idea of having both social media connections and the old fashioned ones of meeting up face-to-face, whenever possible, or at least connecting by phone. See my related post on bringing back the art of real conversation.
Part of the reason having social connections affects people’s health, says BYU researchers, is partly because having others in your life who know how you are doing in general helps us when we might veer down an unhealthy path. The right friends will help you get back to where you were and want you to be happy and healthy. So that makes sense to choose your friends wisely don’t you think?
Do you think your close relationships help you to be happier and healthier in any way? If so—how do they? Let me know your thoughts!
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I know this is a little late AbstractFable but wanted to thank you for your post on September 6! I really appreciate the positive feedback and plan to put up some new blogs soon. Take care!
I know this is a much belated but thank you Abstracted Fable for your kind comments! I hope you can come back and read more posts now that I am getting back into writing it again–posts like yours inspire me to get back at it. Take care!