3 Surprising Ways Friends Help Us Handle Stress From American Psychological Association

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1. “Friendships protect us in part by changing the way we respond to stress. Blood pressure reactivity is lower when people talk to a supportive friend.”

— Holt-Lunstad, J., et al., Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Vol. 33, No. 3, 2007

2. Participants who have a friend by their side while completing a tough task have less heart rate reactivity than those working alone. 

— Kamarck, T. W., et al., Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol. 52, No. 1, 1990

3. In one study, people even judged a hill to be less steep when they were accompanied by a friend. 

— Schnall, S., et al., Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 44, No. 5, 2008

Source: American Psychological Association, “The science of why friendships keep us healthy” by Zara Abrams