The Buddy
System
Navigating life’s ups and downs is much easier
with a good friend by your side. But now there’s
even more reason to carve out time for these
important relationships: Recent studies show that
they increase your disease-fighting powers
and longevity. Here’s how to prioritize your pals
and improve your overall well-being.
TEXT BY JENNIFER KING LINDLEY
WE HAVE LOTS TO thank our friends
for, from swooping in when the
pet sitter flakes, to being there when
the going gets tough, to listening
to every little detail. But a growing
body of research reveals that these
stalwart companions do more than
just have our backs: They can make
u s hea lt h ier.
A 2016 University of Oxford (U.K.)
study found that young adults who
had large social networks were able to
tolerate physical pain better, because
they had higher levels of endorphins,
the body’s feel-good chemicals. (The
researchers had them fill out a com-
prehensive personality question-
naire and, separately, squat against
a wall; differences in physical fitness
were factored into the results.) For
teens, having five or more mentally
healthy friends can cut the chances
of developing depression in half, per
a 2015 study from England’s Univer-
sity of Warwick.
Friends bring benefits later in life,
too. A 2011 study out of Rush Univer-
sity Medical Center, in Chicago, con-
cluded that the rate of cognitive
decline was reduced by about 70
percent in socially active elderly
adults, compared with those who
socialized less often. And on the flip
side, going it alone is now being rec-
ognized as a real and quantifiable
threat: “Lacking social connections
carries the same risk for premature
mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a
day, and exceeds the risk associated
with obesity and physical inactivity,”
explains Julianne Holt-Lunstad, PhD,
a psychology and neuroscience pro-
fessor at Brigham Young University,
in Provo, Utah.
The science is straightforward.
“We’re social animals. When we are
around trusted others, we feel safer,”
says Holt-Lunstad. By contrast, feel-
ing isolated puts us on high alert,
which can interfere with sleep, raise
blood pressure and levels of the
stress hormone cortisol, and gradu-
ally rev up inflammation. Time with
60 SEPTEMBER 2019 PHOTOGRAPH BY LIZA HALL
