How our friendships affect our mental health in a positive way, psychologist explains

Do your friendships affect your mental health in positive ways? A psychologist suggests some markers to determine how our relationship with our friends impacts us. Read on to know more details.

Our friends are one of the major parts of our social life. They are the people you spend the majority of your time hanging out with, after your family. Therefore, the friends who form your company, especially those you're most close to you, leave a lasting impression on your mental health and overall well-being. The quality of your friendships determines the impact they are going to leave. As you go through different phases of your life, you start having deep discussions about your struggles and joys with your friends, and the way they react and support you determines how they will affect you.

So, today, on National Best Friend Day, we got in touch with a clinical psychologist from Delhi, Dr Khatri, to learn how friendships affect our mental health in a positive way.

According to Dr Samriddhi Khatri, friendships add a great deal to our social support system. She said, "There are so many things that we cannot or choose not to communicate with our family. However, those are the things that we can share with our friends. At all ages, friendship is an essential aspect of our social support or enhancing our overall well-being and mental health. You can identify real or meaningful friendship by the way that relationship adds to your well-being rather than taking away from your peace of mind. Real friendships generally have positive impacts on one's mental health."

Being a part of a social group or a close-knit friendship, increases our sense of belongingness

So, here are some markers suggested by Dr Khatri, that show how good/real friendships impact us for the better. You can use them to determine if your relationship with your friends has a positive affect on your mental health.

Lending Support

Dr Khatri explained, "Friends are there for us in both, good and bad times. And though everyone is different - some people may not need a lot of friends or some may have a big group - we all need at least one close person to celebrate our achievements and joys and also share our setbacks. And friends provide us with that comfort by being there for us."

Spending Quality Time

We cannot choose our family, but we choose our friends. We have heard this statement several times. According to Dr Khatri, "Spending quality time with your good friend or group is one aspect of a friendship. This improves our mental health and well being because when we spend time with our friends we feel that we are positively enjoying ourselves and being comfortable with who we are."

Enhancing Sense of Belongingness

Dr Khatri said, "Being a part of a social group or a close-knit friendship, increases our sense of belongingness. This, thereby, adds to our confidence and happiness."

Real friendships generally have positive impacts on one's mental health.

Reducing Stress

"Quality time spent with your group of good friends/best friends or being confident that you have people to rely on when needed reduces the stress and burden of your daily struggles," Dr Khatri explained.

Increasing Happiness

"When we are around our friends, we can be ourselves, behave the way we want and enjoy to the fullest. It also helps us relax our minds, and this enjoyment releases happy hormones in the brain," Dr Khatri said.

Keeping Away The Feelings Of Loneliness

"Having a company of people who love and support you, keeps away the feelings of loneliness. Even a phone call with one's friend can help them feel loved. This is especially important for older age groups, as they can take comfort in their friendships when children and other family members are busy," Dr Khatri noted.

Boosts Your Confidence

Dr Khatri explained, "Knowing you have a group of people to support you or peers and friends to cheer for you and celebrate your success, boosts your confidence and motivates you. Their presence especially helps you when your morale is down."

Lastly, Dr Khatri added that some friendships, when gone wrong can have ill effects on our mental health. Additionally, this doesn't mean that we should be critical of our friends because every relationship has its low phases sometimes. However, these red flags should be on your radar. She explained, "Your friendship may need re-evaluation if these markers exist - comparison, jealousy, talking behind your back, peer pressure, bullying, excessive dependence, aggressive or passive-aggressive behaviour, feelings of competition, and pressure to indulge in poor life choices."