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Sep 20, 2007
"Loneliness
Is
An island
In
The middle
Of
A sea of people" --R.R. (age 11)
Health Through Friendship
According to research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., having close friends you can count on has far-reaching benefits for your physical and mental health. A strong social network can be critical to helping you through the stress of tough times, whether you've had a bad day at work or a year filled with loss or chronic illness. Dr. Edward T. Creagan is a cancer specialist at the Mayo Clinic and the author of "How Not to Be My Patient: A Physician’s Secrets for Staying Healthy and Surviving any Diagnosis." He says a prescription of friendship can go a long way toward a healthy future. “Mounting evidence from sociologists, psychologists and medical researchers suggests that strong social support -- I like the term 'connectedness' -- can help a person live longer,” he said.
BE THE CHANGE
Make an explicit effort to decrease someone's loneliness today -- a smile to a passerby, a conversation with a coworker, a flower to a friend.
