Your friends are sources of support, comfort, and fun through good times and bad, but did you know that your friends can actually improve your overall health and well-being, too? Here, experts — and friends we spoke to — share their experiences building, maintaining, and (if needed) ending friendships.
If you’re very lucky, your friends are your partners in adventure, trusted confidants, and chosen family — in other words, priceless additions to your life. Yet it’s all too easy to take friendships for granted.
“We often see adult friendships as a luxury; the first thing we let go of when life gets busy,” says Laura Whitney Sniderman, wellness coach and founder of the friendship platform Kinnd. “Friendships are an absolute necessity for our health and well-being. I really encourage [people] to hold on to friends and put in the effort to keep [friendships] alive.”
“A friendship can take many forms,” licensed social worker Candace Kotkin-De Carvalho tells DailyOM. Kotkin-De Carvalho, the clinical director of Absolute Awakenings, a mental health and addiction treatment facility, says that friendships can be based on shared experiences (like at work) or common interests, even from online communities. We meet and make friends in all sorts of ways. There are our early childhood and school pals; neighborhood friends; work buddies; and so-called “situational friends,” like the people you chat with at one location (the dog park, the gym) and activity friends you see when you’re taking part in volunteering together or participating on your soccer team. All have their place in making your life fuller and richer.
Here, we’ll explore the myriad ways friendships improve our lives. We’ll also look into those heartbreaking signs that a friendship no longer feeds your soul, and what to do about it.
Why Are Friendships So Important?
Though society emphasizes the importance of romantic partnerships, our friendships often serve as some of our most important and long-lasting relationships, whether we’re happily single or in a committed romantic relationship.
Your friends are sources of support, comfort, and fun through good times and bad, but did you know that your friends can actually improve your overall health and well-being, too? Here, experts — and friends we spoke to — share their experiences building, maintaining, and (if needed) ending friendships.
If you’re very lucky, your friends are your partners in adventure, trusted confidants, and chosen family — in other words, priceless additions to your life. Yet it’s all too easy to take friendships for granted.
“We often see adult friendships as a luxury; the first thing we let go of when life gets busy,” says Laura Whitney Sniderman, wellness coach and founder of the friendship platform Kinnd. “Friendships are an absolute necessity for our health and well-being. I really encourage [people] to hold on to friends and put in the effort to keep [friendships] alive.”
“A friendship can take many forms,” licensed social worker Candace Kotkin-De Carvalho tells DailyOM. Kotkin-De Carvalho, the clinical director of Absolute Awakenings, a mental health and addiction treatment facility, says that friendships can be based on shared experiences (like at work) or common interests, even from online communities. We meet and make friends in all sorts of ways. There are our early childhood and school pals; neighborhood friends; work buddies; and so-called “situational friends,” like the people you chat with at one location (the dog park, the gym) and activity friends you see when you’re taking part in volunteering together or participating on your soccer team. All have their place in making your life fuller and richer.
Here, we’ll explore the myriad ways friendships improve our lives. We’ll also look into those heartbreaking signs that a friendship no longer feeds your soul, and what to do about it.
Why Are Friendships So Important?
Though society emphasizes the importance of romantic partnerships, our friendships often serve as some of our most important and long-lasting relationships, whether we’re happily single or in a committed romantic relationship.
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