Make adult

As a kid, friendships happened naturally. It was as easy as being in the same class or playing the same sport. Those childhood bonds formed effortlessly and sometimes lasted years. But as an adult, making new friends is a lot harder. However, studies show that close friendships are important to your happiness and can even extend your life. Plus, the lonelier people tend to feel, the more likely they are to experience depressive symptoms, decreasing their quality of life.

DM people on Instagram! According to lore from under the sea, dolphins are smart as hell and very, very social while turtles prefer to navigate the water in solitude, slowly and steadily. The recognition of its rareness, the pursuit of something more. In the spirit of investigating what actually works no, really! You know what they say — the best stuff bubbles up in the most unlikely of places.

Things were so much easier when we were kids, including making friends. Back when saving for retirement and anti-aging creams were in the very distant future, maybe you didn't give much thought to chatting up your peers at the playground. But, now that socializing is probably at the bottom of your long list of priorities, you might be wondering how you'd even make friends as an adult in the first place, or why you should bother. Beyond having a close-knit group of people to vent about your problems with, or to accompany you on your next girls' trip , maintaining human, interpersonal relationships can significantly impact your physical and mental health.

Friendships give us so much. She writes regularly about connection for Psychology Today and has been a featured connection expert in publications including The New York Times , The Telegraph and Vice. She is currently writing a book, Platonic , on how to make friends as an adult.