Why men lose their friends – and how they can make more
“In the UK, research by the Movember Foundation in 2018 found 27% of men said they had no close friends at all. They also found that friendships become less strong as men get older, with 22% of men aged 55 and over saying they never see their friends. It would seem there is, for men at least, a friendship recession.”
But:
“… studies have shown, the single biggest predictor of our psychological health and wellbeing, our physical health and wellbeing, and even how much longer we’re going to live, is the number of close friendships and family relationships we have.”These are quotes from an interesting article on male friendships, especially in later life. The article explains why so many men have few meaningful friendships, but why it’s so important that they have such friendships.
Now I’m a man who is 75 this month. I don’t support a football team; I don’t play golf; I don’t go to pubs. By rights, I shouldn’t have any close friends. But I do and I know that they’re very important to my mental and physical health. However, most of these friends are women because I find that they understand better than men the importance of strong social networks and are more willing to invest the time in them.
June 4th, 2023 at 9:15 pm
I’m 84 this year and do not have any close male friends – plenty of aquaintences but no close friends. I never had any kind of close relationship with my father – he and my mother only stayed together for my sake. She left as soon as I was 18 and no longer living at home. I’ve always assumed that the lack of a father figure was the reason for my lack of male friends.
I would be very interested in reading responses to your article but I don’t know how to instigate this “rss 2.0 feed” (??).
June 6th, 2023 at 12:16 pm
That’s interesting, Peter.
I too lacked a father figure as I grew up. My sister and then my wives were my best friends. My sister is still my best friend but she lives in another city.
I’ve written about some of this in my newly-published memoir here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roger-Not-Out-covering-1948-2023/dp/B0C63W8GKK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=360U305X6PAQF&keywords=roger+darlington&qid=1686049934&sprefix=%2Caps%2C353&sr=8-1
June 6th, 2023 at 12:16 pm
That’s interesting, Peter.
I too lacked a father figure as I grew up. My sister and then my wives were my best friends. My sister is still my best friend but she lives in another city.
I’ve written about some of this in my newly-published memoir here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roger-Not-Out-covering-1948-2023/dp/B0C63W8GKK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=360U305X6PAQF&keywords=roger+darlington&qid=1686049934&sprefix=%2Caps%2C353&sr=8-1