People who live long have a common habit that explains their extraordinary longevity, as many experts in the field confirm. Today we we explain the importance of social relationships and, in particular, the human need to spend time establishing and maintaining family and friendship bonds. Social support is a protective factor for mental health and, as Unai Aso, psychologist on the online platform Buencoco, says, “we are social beings by nature and relationships with others are fundamental to our psychological well-being.”
Rudolph Tanzi, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School, created the acronym SHIELD as a mnemonic to remember healthy habits that protect the brain. We have known some for a long time: sleep, stress management, daily physical exercise, learning new things, good nutrition… And clearly, the main point of this article: social interactions with our loved ones. And he goes further when he explains social relationships: “Science suggests that it is helpful to see one or two close relatives or friends at least once or twice a month, in addition to the family you see every days”, in which he insists that they should be “people you feel close to and can trust.” Indeed, he adds another fact: loneliness can increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Similar to what Rudolph Tanzi explains about maintaining social relationships, we are aware that an extreme amount of interaction can cause social fatigue. In many cases, however, this fatigue has much to do with the fact that not everyone has the same social battery than with potential excess. The recommendation to look after our social relationships applies above all to trusted people who, as psychologist Bárbara Tovar explains, “do not cost us any social energy and do not cause any fatigue. They represent a real home. Being around them doesn’t require as much energy as other interpersonal relationships.”
In this list of the benefits of spending quality time with loved ones, we must acknowledge the blue zones. These are the areas in the world where life expectancy is highest, and the science is clear: relationships are incredibly relevant there. In Okinawa, for example, it is common to create social support groups among friends (called Moais) to provide help to others in their community. In Barbagia, Sardinia, there are no retirement homes, as residents organize themselves to care for their elders. Moreover, according to journalist Dan Buettner, who has been studying these blue zones for years, loneliness in the United States, for example, causes Americans to lose 15 years of life expectancy. There is no longer any doubt: cultivating happy relationships is necessary to live better and longer.
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