More and more studies are highlighting the health benefits of friendship, a drug without side effects and inexpensive! According to the results of a new study published in the medical journal Scientific Reports, friendship would be more effective than opioid-based drugs in the fight against pain. The more people are surrounded, the more they are resistant to suffering.
Endorphins are hormones involved in the pain circuit. These hormones with analgesic properties would also promote social ties. Based on this, researchers at the University of Oxford (UK) imagined that endorphins released by friendship could be as powerful a natural painkiller as morphine drugs.
They recruited 1,100 participants and analyzed the link between friendship (the number of people contacted at least once a month, but less than once a week) and pain tolerance.
The results of this study revealed that participants who were well surrounded and had stronger social connections would have a higher tolerance to pain. The study also tells us that higher levels of stress are also associated with smaller social networks …
As friendship is often involved in our physical and social health, it is important for researchers to understand the neurobiological mechanisms of social construction.
“As a species we have evolved to thrive in a socially rich environment, but in this digital age, gaps in our social interactions can be among the overlooked factors that contribute to the deterioration of our health,” concludes Katerina Johnson. author of the study.
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