Friendship can improve mental health, happiness, and even your grades.

By Erick Diaz

For many people, friends are key to their lives functioning properly. For others, friends come in and out of their lives like a revolving door. Having friends in your life heightens the highs and lessens the lows and a real friend shows up for both.

To talk about friendship, it’s appropriate go back to kindergarten. According to studies, kids do not start making real friendships until they are four or five, as friendships require a huge amount of time, caring, and consideration for each other’s feelings. Relationships made before then are considered “playmates.” Though the chances of survival for these kindergarten friendships are small due to numerous reasons, young BFFs teach kids how to treat others and helps shape them for future and more long-lasting relationships.

Teenage friendships show people the early signs of a real friendship. During teenage years, as humans experience more freedom, and start developing a mindset of their own, their level of love and care for others also increases. According to the Newport Academy, “Teenagers who have close friendships in adolescence have better mental health as young adults.” High school counselor, Caitlin O’Toole states that close friends help academically saying, “Kids are more likely to go to a class because their friends are in the same class. Students seem to enjoy a class depending on the teacher, but also on the environment provided by their peers.” Friends can help you with struggles in school, both academically and socially.

A friend impacts one’s choices and can immediately influence lifestyle, personality, taste, and even sense of fashion. They are the family you choose. You have the choice to keep them around or cut them off, which is why America places huge importance on friendship with 61% of people agreeing that they need close friends to have a fulfilling life. Close friends are different from social friends. Close friends are more intimate and are the closest thing you have to a family outside of your bloodline. Sharing success with a close friend elevates confidence and sharing troubles relieves stress, both improving your overall mental health. According to Mayo Clinic, friends boost happiness, increase sense of belonging and purpose, and help with traumas and serious illness.

Many people think that the number of close friends matter to live a fulfilling life, but that is not necessarily true. Quality will always come over quantity. A whopping 53% of adults in America say they have between one and four close friends, while a 38% say they have five or more, 8% said they have no close friends.

On the other hand, there are people who prefer solitude. According to psychologist Daniel Marston, it is important to learn how to communicate with people to progress in life. However, it is not important to have friends, as everyone is different, and some people may not be comfortable having a friend. Marston also suggests that everyone should find a way to be comfortable by themselves at some point and that handling being alone is as important as having friends.

But when we go back to a situation like the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, where we were all forced to stay home, people used the free time to reconnect with old friends, calling or Facetiming each other for hours. Thinking about all the lives lost during the pandemic, friendships became more cherished.

No matter what stage of life we are in, friendships provide emotional and physical support, help with stress and confidence, and make you a better person.  As you evaluate your most special friendships, be mindful about the role your friendship plays in another’s life.

­­­­