Friendship buffers against the wear and tear of daily stress, lowering anxiety and regulating emotions. Social support, research finds, short-circuits our body’s natural threat response; experiments have shown that when a companion is in the room, our stress is reduced. It sounds hokey, but our relationships act like a shock absorber, reducing the brain’s response to pain. One study found that if two people are standing together, looking up at a hill, the incline doesn’t look as steep as it would if they were each alone.
Comminity
