The book explores the subject of emotional stress, and how some relationships are actually toxic to good emotional health. But do people always know what is best for themselves? It appears that some people who are not aware of being lonely could benefit from having more friends. The book at one point offers a definition of loneliness as having fewer friends than desired. Of course there are differences in people's personalities with some people being highly motivated to seek friends and others who are more introverted. This would seem to indicate that acquiring friends comes first, good health follows. Some examples are sited near the end of the book of improved health outcomes resulting from social programs that encourage enhanced social connections. Maybe good health causes people to have more friends. That still leaves the question of which causes which. Simply stated, having friends is good for health. Consequently scientists have discovered corresponding physiological markers of physical health and robustness of the immune system which also vary in positive proportion to the variety and number of social ties a person has. There have been a variety of population studies made that consistently show a positive relationship between the number of social contacts a person has and their expected lifespan. This book provides an interesting review of human behavior at the intersection of sociology, psychology, neurology, and physical health. With its refreshingly optimistic vision of the evolution of human nature, this book puts friendship at the center of our lives. With warmth and compassion, Denworth weaves together past and present, field biology and cutting-edge neuroscience, to show how our bodies and minds are designed to make friends, the process by which social bonds develop, and how a drive for friendship underpins human (and nonhuman) society. As a result, social connection is finally being recognized as critical to our physical and emotional well-being. Finding it to be as old as life on the African savannas, she also discovers that friendship is reflected in our brain waves, detectable in our genomes, and capable of strengthening our cardiovascular and immune systems. In Friendship, journalist Lydia Denworth visits the front lines of the science of friendship in search of its biological, psychological, and evolutionary foundations. The bonds of friendship are universal and elemental. An engaging and deeply reported investigation of friendship: its evolution, purpose, and centrality in human and nonhuman lives alike.
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