When it comes to social connections and the value of friendship, science and experts agree that they are crucial for mental health and well-being.
But in a busy and stress-filled world, these relationships can sometimes be overlooked.
CBS News New York’s Cindy Hsu is breaking the stigma about the importance that meaningful connections can have on our lives.
“Life cannot be a solo journey”
Wellness facilitator Vanessa Cornell recently led a gathering designed to foster social and emotional connections.
She regularly runs retreats and courses that work toward building better and more meaningful friendships.
“It’s great to talk about mental health, but we’re not talking enough about how much we need each other, how much we just need to create friendships, social connection,” she said.
Cornell said even in her own early success, she experienced extreme isolation.
“I was surrounded by people and surrounded by wonderful people who loved me and still desperately, desperately lonely, because I had never let anyone in,” she said.
Friendships counter stress, study says
Studies have shown that for women, especially, friendships can have a positive impact.
“Tending and befriending” releases more oxytocin, which counters stress and has a calming effect, according to research from the UCLA Social Minds Lab.
Ally Bogard said she still struggled even though she had many accomplishments.
“I am the one people go to, and that can create a lot of extraordinary loneliness, of feeling like I’ve got to keep it so together, or else everybody else will worry or feel unsupported,” she said.
She said attending social gatherings was freeing for her and had a positive impact on her mental health. Having a community helped everyone involved share information and resources, Bogard said.
“It’s an issue of isolation”
Cornell said the importance of friendship isn’t just a woman’s issue.
“It’s louder for the women, because we have more permission to talk about it. But it really is, across the board, I think, an issue of isolation,” she said.
Experts agree, saying isolation can be detrimental. Establishing friendships at any age may help ease emotional strain.
“No matter how many external resources or hired resources we have for our mental health, it will never replace a network of social connection and support that we need – friends, family, people we do things with, the people that we rely on in our lives,” Cornell said.