Friendship is really healthy and beneficial for everyone. For women, it even helps relieve stress!
There will be thousands of reasons why friendships are beneficial and healthy. Even that alone may not be enough. A lot of research has been done in the fields of social psychology and health on women’s friendships, showing concrete and interesting results.
Women’s friendships are much stronger and more positive than men’s friendships. Feeling connected and understanding each other reduces stress and anxiety.
Nevertheless, there is something to be clear about. A healthy impact on health and well-being stems not from having many “friends” but from meaningful, genuine friendships that can be counted on one finger.
In this article, we will try to explain more about this.
What is a positive bond in the void?
Today we are more connected than ever, but at the same time far apart.
Friends on social networks abound. Furthermore, communicate through messenger. We express emotions that are not easily expressed in real life with emoticons.
Create an SNS group and say morning and evening greetings regularly. But the more these interactions, the more empty we feel that we are “missing something.”
A satisfying personal life with loved ones around us can be missing. They are the people who make us happy, the people who make us feel safe through intimacy. These precious people give us true friendships, and they are irreplaceable.
The way to overcome the existential emptiness is to maintain social relationships. For women, friendship is the same.
Women react differently to stress
To understand how women and men respond to stress, we must first understand the world of neuropsychology.
- When women are anxious or stressed for a long time, there is a real “cocktail” of neurotransmitters in the bloodstream. Cortisol and epinephrine are what makes this cocktail.
- When this happens, blood pressure and blood sugar rise.
- Women have hormones that act as neurotransmitters. Increasing this hormone is key to lessening the aforementioned effects. It is oxytocin.
Oxytocin not only interferes with the production of cortisol and epinephrine but also calms women. It reduces fear and makes you feel safe.
However, men are affected by stress in a more complex way.
- First of all, here’s an interesting one: men produce less oxytocin.
- The benefits of oxytocin are not as numerous as for women. So men fight more often.
- They are also, on average, more related to emotional constraints. He doesn’t open his heart easily and doesn’t show his feelings well.
For this reason, men’s stress is deeper and more chronic.
Friendship Giving Oxytocin
Women biologically need a “connection” with other people. A connection based on empathy and recognition.
This is explained by the presence of more oxytocin in the brains of women. Oxytocin is a hormone that cares for and protects others.
- When life is like a roller coaster of stress and fear, women turn to friends to overcome their fears and understand the situation more maturely.
- Besides, friendship not only gives women a different perspective, but it is also an aspect of romantic relationships and relationships with relatives.
- People who have meaningful, valuable friends will be more open to communicating with them than family members.
- Friends are not people who solve problems. Just someone who listens to you and understands you.
Meaningful and precious friends are important for everyone to lead a healthy and satisfying life. But for women, the emotional bond is stronger. need more
So there’s nothing more healing than a cup of coffee with an old friend. You will probably forget about the complicated matter.
