Friends have the ability to relieve the most intense pain . They, without a doubt, become protective angels of our psychological and physical health; that is why we say that friends are natural morphine for our sufferings. We can say that friends double the joys and divide the sorrows. Let’s see it with some studies in this article.

Therefore, it is not surprising that emotional ties, complicity and everything that feeds the emotional union that we establish with those around us multiply our joys and divide our anguish in half. Let’s see it in detail.

Lasting emotional ties, the roots of our tree

Disappointments often make us prefer solitude; therefore, we walk away from friendship for fear of pain, failure, and disappointment. This undoubtedly deteriorates us.

However, the happiness that comes from trusting and having someone you love by your side makes us psychologically stronger, in addition to increasing our well-being.

Support in the face of setbacks

On the other hand, having a shoulder to cry on when things go wrong cushions the stress of those vital events that deteriorate us. Like, for example, a loss or a divorce.

Because the mere presence of loved ones in our lives helps us lessen the impact of the setbacks we have to deal with. Therefore, the quality and frequency of our friendships are key. The flow of words soothes our hearts when suffering threatens to overwhelm us.

Psychologist and researcher James Pennebaker is one of the “star figures” in this field. Pennebaker credits the fact that contact with friends makes our health iron.

Friends are a source of natural morphine

The fact that we affirm that the presence of friends is a powerful pain reliever is no accident. This was proven in a curious study carried out at the University of Oxford .

• 101 young people were asked to report the quantity and quality of their social relationships using a questionnaire. As well as their personality characteristics.

• These people were then subjected to a test. This consisted of staying in an uncomfortable position for a long period of time. The object of this request was for them to experience cramps, discomfort, and pain.

• The researchers found that those who had the most friends were the best able to bear the pain they had suffered.

A complex neurochemical system

Thus, if we review the data we have, we also obtain neuroscientific studies that have found evidence of that Aristotelian claim that man is a social animal .

We find various indications of the social programming of our brain. We have a complex neurochemical system that is responsible for enhancing interpersonal relationships: the endogenous opioid system and, specifically, beta-endorphin.

Knowing that they love you, a wonderful feeling

There is a passage from the novel ” The Palace of the Moon”,  by Paul Auster , which magnificently reflects how important it is to know that they love us:

 “At that time I was ignorant of it, of course, but knowing what I know now, it is impossible for me to ignore those days without feeling a wave of nostalgia for my friends. In a sense, that alters the reality of what I experienced.

It doesn’t lessen the terror of the fall, but it gives you a new perspective on what that terror means. I had jumped off the edge and then, at the last moment, something caught me in the air. That something is what I define as love.

It is the only thing that can stop a man’s fall, the only thing powerful enough to override the laws of gravity. “

The wonderful feeling of having an emotional safety cord that protects us is like nothing else. Feeling that they love us is not only hopeful, but it strengthens and revitalizes us. For this reason, we can affirm that having friends fills our world with magic and wealth.