By sharing memories, people can renew a sense of accomplishment and their inventory of well-being. Memories can also help cure the depression and loneliness that comes with illness. Remembering the past and, in the process, reconstructing old ties and friendships, allows people to use the past as a balm for the present. Friendships , studies show, not only help our mental health , they can help restore our bodies . People who receive emotional support require less pain medication after surgery, recover at quicker rates and follow doctor's orders more faithfully.
Emotional support can help reduce stress and the risk of depression and alcoholism .
These remarkable women stayed close. Through the years, many of the nurses kept in touch, sharing their memories in letters and telephone calls and at reunions. The recollections of the nurses are as remarkable now as they were 58 years ago, and part of what makes them so exceptional is the remembering. There are many ways phone calls, notes, e-mail to reconnect with old friends and to meet new ones. Time not only heals old wounds, it makes it easier to roll out the welcome mat.