Monday, November 28, 2005
Today, a friend (Thank You!) sent me a link reminding me about research suggesting that for women, friendship is an essential component to avoiding the experience of stess. Reading the article reminded me how grateful I am for my friends!
Here’s the link: http://www.anapsid.org/cnd/gender/tendfend.html.
Essentially, the link will take you to a well-written, thoughtful article by Gail Berkowitz about research done at UCLA suggesting that when women link in caring ways with other women and with children, they experience a cascade of hormones that protect them from the neurobiology of stress.
Although I was familiar with this “tend and befriend” research, what really caught my eye in this article were the references to research suggesting that friendship among women fosters longer, happier, healthier lives and helps us weather major losses with less distress and less vulnerability to illness.
In the last paragraph of the article, the author notes that when we’re feeling stressed, many of us tend to put our friendships on the back burner… which is highly counterproductive to our health.
Tell a friend how grateful you are for her today! Both of you will likely experience a body bath of oxytocin...and that feels good!
Posted by Linda Sandel Pettit on 11/28 at 03:49 PM in |
(0) comments
