Friendship for women does not mean the same as it does for men.

Friendship for women does not imply or mean the same as it does for men. Female friendships, friends, are something very important in women’s lives. Women talk about different things with each other, we go deeper in our conversations.

For us, time and distance do not matter: a friend is a friend forever. Even though we haven’t seen each other for years, neither the affection nor the trust has diminished. We form a sisterhood that makes us strong. It is something that we carry in our collective DNA and that has always been that way.

In reality, in the past women shared much more than today. They took turns caring for their babies, met to cook together, and shared an intimacy that can only be achieved through a deep bond of friendship. This shared life was a source of strength and comfort upon which their daily lives were built. Women learned from each other, they cared for each other, they could count on each other.

Nowadays, women live much more isolated from each other. The opportunities to meet are not much more limited. But that does not reduce our need to feel united and, in fact, Women who are not with their friends often or who lose contact feel a great inner emptinessdifficult to fill with anything else.

The power of female friendship

The true benefits of friendship are immeasurable. Friends make life better. In this sense, studies show that friendship has a greater impact on our physical and psychological well-being than any other family relationship.

Female friendship has a great impact on our physical and psychological well-being as women., since we share that special bond when we bring our souls closer. That way we find the support and encouragement we need to overcome our problems and limitations.

In fact, according to researchers, The release of the hormone oxytocin is, especially for women, the panacea of ​​friendship and, by extension, health.

Friendship, stress and women

An important study found that Women respond to stress differently than men. This fact has important implications for health. When people experience stress, the fight or flight response is activated and releases hormones, such as cortisol.

Oxytocin is another hormone that is secreted by men and women in response to stress. In women, it dampens the fight or flight response and encourages them to protect and care for their children and to gather with other women.

This works like this not only in humans, but also in many other species. When women get involved in caring for our loved ones or in our friendships with other women, we release oxytocin. This way we have more additional capacity to fight stress and calm down.

On the other hand, men release high levels of testosterone when they are under the effects of stress, which reduces the calming effects of oxytocin. That’s why they tend to be more likely to react with anger and violence. However, women produce estrogen, which increases the effects of oxytocin, which makes us seek social support to release this hormone.

This difference in seeking social support during periods of stress appears to be the main way in which men and women differ in their response to stress, and one of the most basic differences in the behavior of both sexes.

It is worth noting at this point that a study on breast cancer found that Women without close friends were four times more likely to die from the disease than women with 10 or more friends. Interestingly, proximity and amount of contact with friends was associated with survival. The mere fact of having friends was already a protective agent.

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