Your True BFF Has The Same Mental Illness As You
Ever heard of the phrase, "when find someone who has the same mental illness as you, keep them!"?
A lot of people laugh about it and share it with their fellow weird friends. Nothing wrong with that! This world could use more non-evil smiles!
But for teens, friendships can be hard to come by. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University followed four hundred teens in an apparently not-creepy way to study same-sex friendships, from seventh grade through twelfth grade.
They found that nutbirds that flock together, stay together. Of course that's not how they put it.
Study co-author Dr Brett Laursen explains it in smart-person terms: "Behavior similarity is tremendously important to a friendship. Shared feelings and shared experiences are the glue that holds a friendship together."
Those shared feelings and experiences include anxiety and depression. The stalkers researchers found that the more symptoms the teens have in common, the stabler their friendships.
Dr. Laursen, again: "An important takeaway from our study is that children's personal struggles need not adversely impact their social relationships. Mental health issues do not necessarily ruin chances of making and maintaining worthwhile friendships."
As someone who struggles with anxiety and depression, I can vouch that I've maintained closer friendships with those that have also gone through anxiety and depression than those that haven't. It's a noticeable difference in my relationships.
H/T: EurekAlert!