"Friendship Among Women" by Gale
Berkowitz contains the most intriguing information about women and stress.
The following are snippets from an article about a landmark study conducted
by UCLA. The study suggests that friendships between women are
special.
They shape who we are and who we
are yet to be. They soothe our tumultuous inner world, fill the emotional
gaps in our marriage, and help us remember who we really are. Scientists now
suspect that hanging out with our friends can actually counteract the kind
of stomach-quivering stress most of us experience on a daily basis.
Fight or Flight is an ancient
survival mechanism that comes into play when we are under stress.
Re-searchers now believe that women not only have the "fight or flight"
mechanism that kicks in, but also a mechanism they are calling, "tend and
befriend" mechanism. Dr. Klein and Taylor have done research that indicates
when the hormone oxytocin is released as part of the stress responses in a
woman, it buffers the "fight or flight" response and encourages her to tend
children and gather with other women instead. When she actually engages in
this tending or befriending, studies suggest that more oxytocin is released,
which further counters stress and produces a calming effect. This calming
response does not occur in men", says Dr. Klein, "because testosterone -
which men produce in high levels when they're under stress - seems to reduce
the effects of oxytocin. Estrogen", she adds, "seems to enhance it."
The discovery that women respond
to stress differently than men was made in a classic "aha!" moment when the
researchers began to notice the habits of their fellow workers. They noticed
that the women in the lab cleaned, had a cup of coffee and bonded and talked
when they were under stress. Men would hole up and be alone.
"The fact that women respond to
stress differently than men has significant implications for our health. It
may take some time for new studies to reveal all the ways that oxytocin
encourages us to care for children and hang out with other women, but the
"tend and befriend" notion developed by Drs. Klein and Taylor may explain
why -women consistently outlive men."
Study after study has found that
social ties/friendships reduce our risk of disease by lowering blood
pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol. Dr. Klein firmly believes that
friends are helping us live longer.
The famed Nurses' Health Study
from Harvard Medical School Results show:
