Why Girlfriends = Health

It’s been said that “one of the best things a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman, whereas for a woman, one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends.” Women’s need for connection with other women is built in to our DNA – it’s part of our biological makeup. Expert Louann Brizendine wrote about how women find biological comfort in one another’s company in her book “The Female Brain.” Our brains just work differently than men’s, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
We get energized by our own “happy” hormones when we respond to stress with nurturing, fun activities and the creation and maintenance of protective social networks. (That’s why women are the most active users on Facebook and Twitter!) That means we actually feel better and become healthier when we connect with supportive girlfriends. Quality “girl time” physically and mentally helps us create more dopamine, a neurotransmitter that controls and kicks on the brain’s reward and pleasure centers. Bonding between babes and mamas, as well as between trusting girlfriends, is cemented with the attachment hormone, oxytocin. Yeah, we actually bond with our girlfriends as we do with our offspring, creating a chemical love cocktail between us when we share and support.
What’s strange is that, as a society, we’re experiencing a decline in girl time and connection. A major national survey jointly-conducted by Duke University and University of Arizona in 2006 found a big dip in friendships. More people are feeling more isolated, and this lack of social ties creates mental and physical health problems, on a big scale. It’s basically the same as the risks we see from being overweight or smoking cigarettes—that’s how bad it is. See, most women need connection to maintain their health like they need sunlight to create vitamin D.
When us girls get together, start sharing worries and experiences, talking about our feelings, and unveil our souls with our sisters, our bodies feel as rejuvenated as if we had gone to the gym, and our brains are filled with those happy, anti-depressant neurotransmitters that make life so juicy. Rather than feeling guilty for hanging out with our friends, we should give ourselves a squeeze and a “yeehaw!” for doing something that is so good for our health, hormones and outlook. We women are very lucky – when we indulge our true desires for connection and girl time, we actually promote within ourselves the ability to heal.
For more by this author, visit deliciousvitality.com