More Outings with Friends Needed for Better Health

On Instagram just this week I shared a quote that read - 'When you try to make plans with your Mum friends but soon discover that none of you are free for the next 19 years!' Trying to juggle all the demands that we face can sometimes mean that meeting up with friends gets put on the back burner. New research shows that we should be going out with friends twice a week!

How often do you talk with you friends and say 'we need to meet up, it's been so long' - but then never actually set a date and stick to it? I am guilty of this as I'm sure you are too. I have every intention of meeting up but actually setting a date and going along is a completely different story.

We Should be Seeing our Friends Twice a Week:

New research reveals that we have it all wrong! For better health, we should be meeting up with our friends twice a week! Why is that? Lets explore the findings:

It has been found that we can benefit hugely from having a healthy social circle. Having more friends and family around you can have a significant impact on physical and emotional health. Meaning that you are less likely to suffer with illness and when you do, recover quicker. 

The study revealed you are more likely to have a stronger immune system, a decrease in anxiety levels and increased generosity levels (which make us feel better overall).

Dr. Robin Dunbar, professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford researched the topic through various social experiments. 

Dunbar discovered that 75% of a woman's network are other woman and 75% of men's are also men. Interestingly men typically have 4 or 5 good friends that they hang out with, yet women tended to focus on investing time and energy in a relationship with just one best friend. 

Women's Overall Health and Well-Being Improves when they meet with their Friends:

When we do actually get round to meeting up with friends we feel so fulfilled and happy to be together, catching up. Sharing time with people who know how to make you laugh and encourage your dreams. People that quite simply bring out the best in you. 

I always say after a get together 'let's not leave it so long next time'. 

With this research we need to be going out with friends as much as we can to live a happier and healthier life. It's as simple as that. Dr Robin Dunbar, head of this study, stressed that women’s overall health and well being is improved when they get together with their friends twice a week in meetings where they do things, such as having a good old gossip over a drink. 

Research also revealed that only 2 out of 5 women could go out with their friends once a week, this being less often if they have a family to care for. 

Sometimes work/family commitments can completely drain us. So much so that even the thought of making the effort to go out is a no no after a trying day. Instead of staying in alone we should be turning to friends to meet up and uplift us, re-balancing before we hit the sac. 

Without spontaneous and planned outings here and there life is purely routine. On that treadmill, day in day out. It's laborious.

The reality for many of us is going out twice a week just isn't possible. Nothing is stopping you from inviting the girls around for a catch up over a brew though. Nights in are just as fun as nights out. Spending time together is the key - whether that's indoors or outdoors. 

To achieve happiness in all aspects of our lives the bottom line is - we need to be seeing our friends more often. 

You can read more about this study here.

Other posts to check out on Learning and Exploring Through Play: