Live longer - With Friends
OK.. It seems like common sense, but friends do help you live longer..
It also shows some of the problems singles may face in this and other countries...
Study finds being sociable is good for your health, while loneliness is as bad for you as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
A life of booze, fags and slothfulness may be enough to earn your doctor's disapproval, but there is one last hope: a repeat prescription of mates and good conversation.
A circle of close friends and strong family ties can boost a person's health more than exercise, losing weight or quitting cigarettes and alcohol, psychologists say.
Sociable people seem to reap extra rewards from their relationships by feeling less stressed, taking better care of themselves and having less risky lifestyles than those who are more isolated, they claim.
The striking impact of social connections on wellbeing has led researchers to call on GPs and health officials to take loneliness as seriously as other health risks, such as alcoholism and smoking.
"We take relationships for granted as humans," said Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a psychologist at Brigham Young University in Utah. "That constant interaction is not only beneficial psychologically but directly to our physical health."
Being lonely and isolated was as bad for a person's health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day or being an alcoholic. It was as harmful as not exercising and twice as bad for the health as being obese. The study is reported in the journal Plos Medicine.
Holt-Lunstad said friends and family can improve health in numerous ways, from help in tough times to finding meaning in life. "When someone is connected to a group and feels responsibility to other people, that sense of purpose and meaning translates to taking better care of themselves and taking fewer risks."
Andrew McCulloch, of the Mental Health Foundation, said the latest study builds on work that links isolation to poor mental and physical health. "Trends such as increasing numbers of people living alone and the advent of new technologies, are changing the way in which we interact and are leading both the young and old to experience loneliness. It is important that individuals and policy-makers take notice of emerging evidence and of the potential health problems associated with loneliness."
Source: The Guardian
That may have happened but I don't remember 50 % of my nights in Qatar so can't be sure about that ;)
And once drunk ...its easy for the girls... to have their way with us...lol
And Brit the crazy part is you get depressed, you head for alcohol. You sober up, you feel even more depressed so you drink even more and once trapped in this circle it's very hard to get out.
I also fully agree WK...:)
@ colt
huh, you caught me off guard there..hmmm..lemme think and i'll get back to you :)
and btw i like music in general :)
I agree fully brit :)
As someone who has been there. Loneliness, especially in an Expat environment can be hell and lead to depression and alcoholism.
No man... i'm only looking out for you for when you're gone ;-))
Loneliness can be hell, but drink does help ;)
LOL you never miss a chance for a free meal :P
if you are, then you better take me to that much awaited meal... ;-) at least you will have a friend who will ensure you're well taken care of after you bite the dust ;-))
I must be very close to dying :(
Cheers to that! :)
Say... what are you bringing on the friendship table ;-)
so Colt & Brit, can we be friends? :D
Blood is thicker than water ;-)... I do agree though :-)