How Friendships Improve Your Mental Health
Self-care includes a multitude of different activities, such as staying active or reading to manage stress, and should also include looking at the quality of friendships. Maintaining meaningful friendships and removing negative ones, has an incredible impact on your health, as your closest friends can help boost your overall mental and physical health, and also help you reduce your stress. Find out now how your friendships can benefit your health, and how the quality of your friendships over the quantity is the most crucial element of any social circle.
How Do You Measure The Health Of Friendship?
One truth is there are two types of friends you can have in your life: a friend who is good or healthy for you, and a friend who is toxic and brings nothing but negativity into your life. Considering these two types of friends then, how do we measure the health of a friendship, or ‘frientimacy,’ as some experts call it? There are three elements when it comes to measuring the health of friendship including positivity, as in is there more good than bad; consistency, and are you both making an effort to connect; as well as vulnerability, and how much you are sharing with your friend. Experts agree that for us to feel we’re experiencing a positive friendship, there must be five positive feelings for every negative feeling we have when it comes to our friendships.
For instance, if you feel hurt due to a friend canceling plans on you or never initiating to connect with you on a regular basis, these negative feelings can easily outweigh the good. However, once you and your friend spend time together, it can easily put the situation into perspective and allow you to understand your friend better. Regardless, you need to find ways to lessen the stress you experience in a friendship, if there is any negativity, and to boost the positivity you experience with your friend and the benefits their friendship brings into your life for it to be a healthy and long-lasting friendship.
A Strong Support System
Whether you realize it or not, those you surround yourself with can significantly impact your physical and mental health in major ways, and individuals need to be selective about the friends they keep in their life. Good friends are good for your mental and physical health, as your friends support you through your triumphs and tribulations, and prevent loneliness from creeping in and offer companionship. Great friends can also benefit your health by increasing your sense of belonging and purpose in life, boost your happiness and reduce your stress, improve your self-confidence and self-worth, and can help you cope with traumas such as a job loss, a separation, critical illness or the death of a loved one. Friends can also encourage you to change or avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as drinking, smoking, or a lack of physical activity, and will encourage you to grow and reach your full potential.
Adults with a strong social circle have a reduced risk of many critical health issues, such as depression, high blood pressure, and an unhealthy body mass index (BMI). Having a strong support system is essential for effective self-care, as it is all about giving yourself the love and support necessary for your mental and emotional health. Therefore, you should fill your life with reliable and supportive friends who genuinely love you and have your best interests at heart, cheer you on, and challenge you to become a better ‘you.’
