Here’s why we need to reverse that trend now.
The COVID-19 pandemic really messed up our social lives. Cancellations, closures, and fear of catching a potentially deadly infection led us to hunker down and avoid everyone. But the trend of spending less time with friends started even before COVID.
According to the Census Bureau’s American Time Use Survey, the amount of time the average American spent with friends was stable, at 6½ hours per week, between 2010 and 2013. Then, in 2014, time spent with friends began to decline. By 2019, the average American was spending only 4 hours per week with friends.
COVID then deepened this trend. During the pandemic, time with friends fell further. In 2021, the average American spent only 2 hours and 45 minutes a week with close friends (that’s a 58% decline compared to 2010-2013).
Casting off our connections to each other takes a toll. Social isolation and loneliness are linked to a variety of health issues such as high blood pressure, substance abuse, heart disease, and even cancer.
Now is the time to reverse these troubling trends.
Friendships enrich your life (and health) in many ways:
- Good friends teach you about yourself and challenge you to be better.
- They encourage you to keep going when times are tough and celebrate your successes with you.
- But friends do a lot more than give you a shoulder to cry on; they also have a positive impact on your health.
Some research even says friendships are just as important to your wellbeing as eating right and exercising. Having a close circle of friends can decrease your risk of health problems like diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. 
Make plans today to hang out with friends over coffee, in a museum, at a concert, in a gym — wherever. You’ll feel better, create memories, boost your health, and so will your companions.
Make the effort to create relationships you can count on in good times and bad because, as the song goes, “that’s what friends are for.” Besides, you just might have a good time – and better health as a result!