A social-health researcher shares findings from a 2-week cold-virus study: people who felt supported and got more hugs were less likely to get sick. Isolation triggers stress and inflammation, while close contact releases protective hormones like oxytocin and dopamine.
The question that I have for you is you've spent almost 15 years studying social health and connection and friendship. Why is connection and friendship essential for a longer, healthier, more fulfilling life?
So decades of research with thousands of studies, literally billions of participants, have shown us time and time again that human connection, friendships, they are vital for so much more than just having a good mood and feeling happy. Yes, that's one piece of it for sure, right? When we feel connected, when we have supportive relationships, it boosts our mental health. But perhaps less intuitive is the impact of connection on our physical health. So we see that when you have those supportive relationships, you are less likely to get sick in the first place. So for example, one of my favorite studies, researchers followed a group of people for 2 weeks, and every day they asked people, how supported do you feel? And how many hugs have you had? And then at the end of the 2 weeks, they exposed people to a cold virus. What they found was that people who felt more supported and had more hugs were less likely to get sick, and if they did get sick, they had fewer symptoms.
Why?
That's a great question. Because of 2 things going on. The first is very physiological, okay? So what we see is that connection influences the biological functioning of our bodies. So for a second, think about feeling disconnected. Think about feeling isolated or lonely. That's a really stressful experience. Our bodies register that as a stressor.
Yeah.
And that releases cortisol in our bodies. That can increase inflammation in our bodies, which then makes us more susceptible to illness and disease in the long term. The contrast to that is that connection, feeling supported, having those hugs where we feel cared for, and we're releasing dopamine and oxytocin and all those good things for us, that's protective, that buffers against that stress pathway. So that's one key piece is this physiological response. The other is practical. So when you think about if you have an illness and your doctor takes time to explain the medications to you and your friend picks you up from the hospital and then your family member helps you take those medications, you are going to have better health outcomes.
Mm-hmm.
And that's because you had all of those supportive ties helping you actually take the medication.
What's really cool about this research is, and the way that you frame this as a pillar of your overall good life, social health, is you've just laid out that there's research that being around other people, getting hugs boosts your immune system, makes you more resilient physically. And it's starting to paint this picture of why being proactive about maintaining connections is critical for your overall well-being.
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