The BBC highlights research showing friends add years to your life (excerpt):
Good friends promise to be there for you, and their presence can actually help you live longer, researchers say.
Australian scientists said having friends around in old age can do more for life expectancy than having family members around.
***
It was found that close contact with children and relatives had little impact on survival rates over the 10 years.
However, those with the strongest network of friends and acquaintances were statistically more likely to be alive at the end of the study than those with the fewest.
***
The researchers, led by Lynne Giles at Flinders University, in Adelaide, said the benefits may be due to the fact people could choose their friends, as opposed to family members.