After a few posts about how we’re all going to die, how about one about how to live longer? Sure, it’s a good idea to quit smoking, exercise regularly and eat healthier. But what if going out with your friends this weekend could add years to your life?
Research shows that people who have more friends live longer. Here’s a snippet of an article on WebMD.

Conducted by the Centre for Ageing Studies at Flinders University, the study followed nearly 1,500 older people for 10 years. It found that those who had a large network of friends outlived those with the fewest friends by 22 percent.
Why is this so? The authors suspect that good friends discourage unhealthy behaviors such as smoking and heavy drinking. And the companionship provided by friends may ward off depression, boost self-esteem and provide support. Also, as people age, they may become more selective in their choice of friends, so they spend more time with people they like.

Here’s another chunk of the article that speculates on why friends might be good for your health and life expectancy:

Sheldon Cohen, PhD, a psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, has shown that strong social support helps people cope with stress.
“Friends help you face adverse events,” Cohen tells WebMD. “They provide material aid, emotional support, and information that helps you deal with the stressors. There may be broader effects as well. Friends encourage you to take better care of yourself. And people with wider social networks are higher in self-esteem, and they feel they have more control over their lives.”
Other studies have shown that people with fewer friends tend to die sooner after having a heart attack than people with a strong social network. Having lots of friends may even reduce your chances of catching a cold. That’s true even though you’re probably exposed to more viruses if you spend a lot of time with others.
“People with social support have fewer cardiovascular problems and immune problems, and lower levels of cortisol — a stress hormone,” says Tasha R. Howe, PhD, associate professor of psychology at Humboldt State University. “Why? The evolutionary argument maintains that humans are social animals, and we have evolved to be in groups. We have always needed others for our survival. It’s in our genes. Therefore, people with social connections feel more relaxed and at peace, which is related to better health.”

So if you haven’t made plans for the weekend, take two friends and call me in the morning. Really, call me. I want to live a long, healthy life, too.
And if you’re trying to figure out who to make plans with — stay away from Debbie Downer. Spending time with positive people boosts your mood. Not surprisingly. When I spend an evening with people who chronically complain, it just brings me down. Not that everything is perfect in the world, but what you choose to focus on and talk about is just that. A choice.
From OregonLive:

You know that guy who is always up? He could have just been fired, but he sees the positive in it?
Well, hang with him. Doesn’t matter whether you meet people like that for a walk in the morning or a glass of wine at night, or just pick up the phone and reach out. Happy friends benefit your mental health: Your chances of being happy increase by at least 15 percent if someone in your immediate social circle is happy.

Happiness seems to be contagious: If a friend who lives within a mile of you becomes happy, the probability that you’ll feel it, too, goes up by 25 percent. And man, does that guy have a long arm: The happiness of a friend of a friend may push your mood up, too.
Even a neighbor’s happiness may lift yours (and it’s not just because you both live in a nice neighborhood — the researchers controlled for that).
It’s possible that better moods depend more on frequent contact than on deep connections (though deep connections are important for your health, too). Workaholics, beware: Happiness isn’t contagious at work, unless your best buddy works there.