All Friendship Articles

NEW YORK -- A new study confirms what your 130 Facebook friends and scores of Twitter followers may have already told you: The Internet and mobile phones are not linked to social isolation. Online activities such as e-mail, blogging and frequenting Internet hangouts can even lead to larger and more diverse social networks. That's according to a new study by the Pew Internet and American Read more...

After decades of struggling with her weight, Kathy Freeman, at nearly 300 pounds, finally made the decision to get weight-loss surgery at Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn., last year. Although she had a strong network of support from most of her friends and loved ones, the 50-year-old nurse ended up losing a friend along with the 142 pounds she has dropped since the surgery. Read more...

Are you tired of all those mushy friendship poems that always sound schmaltzy and saccharine but never actually come close to reality? Well, here is a friendship poem that really speaks of true friendship and truth itself! Dear Friend, When you are sad ... I will get you drunk and help you plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you sad. When you are blue ... I'll try to Read more...

Are you a people pleaser? If you are, you could be putting your health at risk. According to Les Barbanell, author and psychologist, many people pleasers could be suffering from a pathological condition known as "caretaker personality disorder." In a book, Removing the Mask of Kindness, Barbanell describes how many "nice" people are actually feeling miserable, isolated, Read more...

Stephanie Kahn wanted to bask in her engagement for a few hours before diving into the task of calling aunts, uncles and good friends with the big news. And even before she could call them, she had a surprise party to attend, one that her fiance had set up for their parents and her "closest group of girlfriends." That party was when Kahn lost control of her news. Some of the guests Read more...

It was that special time again, the time when Kathleen Welder Carey, 64, gets to see nine of her best high school friends. She cleans her home, prepares the bedrooms and makes an order from Halepaska's Bakery. Carey and her friends, all now between the ages of 63 and 64, all graduated from Victoria High School in 1963. The group reunited at Carey's home to have a good time and Read more...

Families and friends are chipping in to help each other through the recession, say researchers. A think tank have identified the "financial family", which they describe as "a collaborative unit of friends and relatives who are financially interdependent". Previous research has highlighted a trend for money to be handed down through the generations. But the Future Read more...

Kids these days! Why can't they download a video, set up a Facebook page, send out a text or communicate with their parents through a simple video phone service such as Skype? Grandparents are often depicted as hardened technophobes, yet some are asking these very questions as they try to drag their adult children and grandkids into the 21st Century. "I'm seeing it," says Read more...

Scientists have found females aged between nine and 17 have a best friend, while boys of the same age gravitate towards a gang. The study by the National Institute of Mental Health monitored 34 young people and found one-to-one individual relationships tended to become more important for young girls. There are many theories about the affect of friendship on our health. Here are some of Read more...

When it comes to marriage, the seven year-itch is many things: a truism, a cliche, an evolutionary adaptation, a joke. When it comes to friendship, however, it is very, very real. According to a recent study conducted by Dutch sociologist Gerald Mollenhurst, we cycle through half of our friendships every seven years. The study's larger implications upend the idea that we carefully select and Read more...

She's been your friend for as long as you can remember. You've been through ups and downs, sure, but you had never before faced a major communication problem or conflict. Now, however, you find that your friendship is in jeopardy because of a disagreement, misunderstanding, or worse. When anger simmers, and defenses are up, it can be hard to effectively resolve an issue, and that can sometimes Read more...

At the core of every relationship lies chemistry. In the case of friendship, it's all about hormones. Researchers at the University of Michigan have found chemical evidence to support an evolutionary theory of altruism that suggests hormones enable us to suppress our own well-being in order to help others. The researchers examined 160 coeds at the University of Michigan. Baseline Read more...

A U.S. researcher says compulsive Facebook use may be a result of the fact that there's always something new on the social networking site. Nancy Baym, a University of Kansas professor, said on sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, users share status updates, self-generated media, journal entries and other interpersonal communication in a continuous dribble. "It's a continuous Read more...

It is a cruel irony that people who are lonely and desperate to make friends often come across as unfriendly. While some people attract new friends like a magnet, for others it is not so easy. It can be especially difficult for reserved or quiet individuals, who may take time to connect with others. Luckily there are a few simple things you can do to counteract this.  Make an effort: No-ones Read more...

A couple of drinks with friends or colleagues after work is good for your health, researchers say. They claim moderate drinking while socializing can reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes. Scientists in Japan studied the drinking habits of nearly 20,000 men aged 40 to 69 and found those who drank moderately in good company were more likely to have a reduced risk of ill health. Read more...

If you're happy and you know it, thank your friends -- and their friends. And while you're at it, their friends' friends. But if you're sad, hold the blame. New research from James Fowler of UC San Diego and Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School shows that happiness spreads far and wide through a social network -- traveling not just the well-known path from one person to another but Read more...

The cliche of females being the chattier sex proves true, at least in female-centric monkey groups such as macaques, a British study found. Female macaques made 13 times as many friendly noises as males, two researchers from London's Roehampton University found in a study. Nathalie Greeno and Stuart Semple listened to a group of 16 female and eight male macaques living on Cayo Read more...

Murray Katz, 82, has made a transition that lies ahead for millions of Americans. "When I was growing up, I didn't see women who were in their 60s and 70s as women", he said recently. "Now, it's amazing. The men I know are all looking at 80-year-old women. They're our friends. We listen to them. We dance with them. We have sex with them when we can. It's beyond Read more...

"Endings seem to lie in wait," John O'Donohue wrote. His certainly did. He died in his sleep, January 3, 2008, on vacation near Avignon. He was just 53. I met John O'Donohue only once. I had read Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom, the 1997 book that made him deservedly famous. "Read" is wrong. At 100 words a minute, I had, over weeks, absorbed enough of this Read more...

I believe that poor self-esteem is at the root of most emotional problems common today. It is the catalyst. It is the common ingredient in so many miserable lives. It is the doorway through which a world of neurosis enters. Almost every single desperate emotional human circumstance can be directly traced back to someone's lack of adequate self-esteem, and this tragedy is made worse by its Read more...