How Important Is Socializing to Your Brain Health?

People are attracted to positive emotions, and when a person becomes happier, their friends and their friends' friends are more likely to be happy, according to a study of nearly 5,000 people over 20 years by researchers at Harvard Medical School and University of California, San Diego.

A brief message to an old friend can be a welcome surprise. Many people hold off on reaching out because they don’t think it will be appreciated. Not true. Research says your unexpected hello will land well. 

Social prescribing is one way that clinicians try to help patients who are facing social isolation by encouraging them to access community programs and resources that may help them engage with others.

All of the examples above are social prescriptions. “The most important thing about social recommendations is making sure they are tailored to the individual,” Stanford psychiatrist Douglas Noordsy, M.D., told Stanford Lifestyle Medicine. The hiking group prescription is the one that offers two benefits: exercise along with social connection.