What made me laugh about this social study is that it involved women proofreading botany manuscripts together. How dry can you get? But that was the point: The study compared emotionally neutral tasks (like proofreading botany) with tasks that elicit feelings of emotional closeness.
The University of Michigan study found that feeling emotionally close to a friend increases levels of progesterone, which helps reduce anxiety and stress while also boosting feelings of well-being. It’s the first study to show that bonding with others actually increases levels of progesterone – a sex hormone that fluctuates with a woman’s menstrual cycle.
The study, led by University of Michigan researcher Stephanie Brown, was published in the June issue of Hormones and Behavior.
Do you feel the health benefits of having close friends?
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yes i definitely feel the benefits of having close girlfriends – after not seeing my girlfriends for awhile, i crave that time with them. they can really relate to us in a way that no man can. women can be compassionate, gentle, sensitive, and kind… my girlfriends bring me so much joy.