How Friends Help You De-stress

IN BRIEF: In this post we look into reasons why and how our circle of friends help us de-stress. We tend to take our best of friends for granted sometimes, but this is what friendships are all about isn’t it?

The generic definition of stress in human mind can be defined as lack of faith in oneself for dealing with a situation. It is a situation when we’ve overburdened our heads with thoughts of negativity.

De stressing literally means to relax, this can be done in many ways like, think positive, meditate, exercise, pamper yourself and most important share your thoughts with a close friend.

A friend is someone who knows us well and will not be judgmental about us or our thoughts. All the other ways to de stress are at the core ways to only calm our mind.

The reasons why friends can help us de stress better can be:

• Friends are the family we get to choose: We don’t get to choose our family or relatives. But we decide which friends stay with us and which don’t. This gives us an independence of being with the people with whom our thoughts match.
• Talking to a friend helps: Firstly, friends understand each other’s feelings on various issues. Also the experience a friend may have of a particular situation can help us gain from their experiences. When we share our feelings and thoughts on a particular issue we develop ‘emotional intimacy’.
• Don’t just share troubled but also share fun times: There are a number of activities like a workout session, an outing with friends, a coffee or a meal at a restaurant and a walk in the park to remember good old memories are a few activities that refreshes our minds.
• Friends help build self-confidence: When one is going through a phase of stress and self-doubt, a friend always restores our lost esteem and builds are self-confidence by helping us de-stress. A healthy relationship results in a healthy life for both friends.
• Friendship comes without an expiry date: After our parents and spouse I think this is one relation where we can be our self. Cause true friendship always blossoms under the shade of truth. Just be yourself, but remember to not take friendship for granted, be a patient listener as well, be proactive in your relations and most important remember to keep your friends as your priority. Don’t expect to be someone’s priority if you treat them as an option in your life.

The old saying goes, ‘Man is a social animal’ and so relationships form a major part of de stressing than age old relaxing techniques. Many scientific experiments have proved that sharing troubles with a friend is more benefiting than anything. Few of the benefits are, reduced risk of dementia and other diseases, helps to stay fit, boosts confidence and self-esteem and live longer.