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Before the weekend or holidays arrive, most of us make plans to meet up with friends and family, go to the movies together, party, go club- hopping, or go for a drive or a picnic. In doing so, we are responding to one of our basic human needs, that of companionship.

Some of the foremost research into human health has determined that besides correct diet, exercise, and a regulated lifestyle, the one factor that increases human longevity is companionship. Man is an inherently social animal, and despite the need for solitary reflection from time to time, it is very important that a person has company, of the human or animal kind. To seek companionship, you can fall back on family, or friends, join a communal activity, or find a hobby that leads to making new friendships. You can take up an interactive pet like a dog, that is capable of giving back affection.

Companionship works on the human mind by relieving stress. When you share your problems with another, you are essentially expressing your feelings and emotions on a particular subject. Supressed negative feelings are known to adversely affect your health.

Companionship also means that you can do a particular activity together with another person. This shared activity adds to your sense of enjoyment. If you have a friend to help you with a task, it is not only companionship that you get, you also have a feeling of being loved and cared for, which is very essential to your mental health.

One of the best instances of companionship working wonders is when you see long time-couples, who have aged together. Their companionship gives them a sense of security and well-being and adds to their quality of living. They have managed to resolve, or at least to live with their differences over the years, and the companion has become something of a habit. Each person in this relationship knows the other very well, and is able to adjust or act accordingly. Often, in old age homes, the biggest lack is not of proper care or environment, the inhabitants of such a place crave companionship, someone to talk to, to tell stories, and to share their past experiences in life with.

In the case of children, companionship plays a great role. A child who does not get enough time and attention from his parents or siblings essentially grows up into a lonely and sometimes even an anti-social adult, who does not know how to give love because he or she has never received it. Such an adult might also be deficient in social skills, and thus unable to form acquaintances or relationships easily.

Besides family, a child benefits from having a pet, like a dog or a cat, because a pet can accompany him or her during play. Even the physical contact of stroking a pet's fur or ears can be a relaxing activity, and a lesson on how to show love. Such companionship also teaches great lessons of sharing and responsibility.

Companionship is thus an essential ingredient of human life. Most of the times it makes life worth living, and at others reduces the burdens life imposes on us.

Learn more about this author, Damyanti Ghosh.
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