Blog Search - "Happiness & social connection "

Featured: Pleasure and positivity are powerful medicine

Pleasurable emotions such as joy, happiness, excitement, enthusiasm, and contentment are associated with a lower risk from heart disease, the leading cause of premature death in the western world.

Comments Posted on Mon, 8 Mar 10

Loneliness leaves women heartbroken

Compared to men, women may be particularly susceptible to the effects of poor quality relationships. Whereas men have a lower heart disease risk simply because they are in a relationship, the quality of the relationship is much more important to the health of women. Feelings of loneliness have an important effect on health and, interestingly, are not determined by the amount of social interactions but their quality.

Comments Posted on Sun, 14 Feb 10

Dog owners enjoy a better life

As any dog owner knows, a dog is not only a friend but can help support new friendships through increased social interaction, such as talking to people when going for a walk together. Social support whether from a dog or human is important for health and wellbeing. As an example of just how important this effect may be a remarkable report found that patients with heart disease who owned a dog had a greater than 600% reduction in risk of dying (1).

Comments (1) Posted on Tue, 8 Dec 09

Giving is good for your health

Modern culture is heavily focused on the accrual of material wealth often at the expense of social wealth. It is well established that social relationships are an important determinant of health and wellbeing. Furthermore it may be that the act of giving, more than receiving, is important for health.

Comments (1) Posted on Wed, 7 Oct 09

Reconnect with your tribe

It has been proposed that we are currently experiencing such high rates of stress related disorders including anxiety, insomnia, drug abuse and depression because as a society we have become disconnected socially. In our not to distant past we generally lived in close-knit groups with strong social support, a shared world view and a clear sense of purpose and belonging (1). In the modern world regaining this social connectedness has important implications for our health and wellness.

Comments (5) Posted on Wed, 7 Oct 09

Happiness spreads health like a virus

People who experience higher levels of happiness, joy, excitement, enthusiasm and contentment live longer and are less likely to suffer disease than those who are less happy (1). Importantly, happier people do not experience less stress and adversity in their lives but rather they have more social support, a higher level of social connectedness and are more likely to be optimistic (2). This suggests happiness is dependant not only on an individuals outlook but also on the people around them. Recently it has been discovered, that much like a virus, happiness spreads contagiously through social networks.