DNYUZ
  • Home
  • News
    • U.S.
    • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Culture
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Television
    • Theater
    • Gaming
    • Sports
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Autos
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
DNYUZ
No Result
View All Result
Home News

How Many Friends Do You Actually Need? Science Says This Is the Number.

July 29, 2025
in News, Science
How Many Friends Do You Actually Need? Science Says This Is the Number.
503
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

There’s a weird kind of loneliness that shows up even when your phone won’t shut up. You have group chats. You go to work. You go to events. You reply to memes. But when something real happens—like, actually real—you can’t think of a single person to text who won’t make it weirder.

That’s not just a you problem. According to new research from News Corp’s Growth Distillery and Medibank, the number of people we can count on has a direct connection to how mentally well we feel. The difference between people with high well-being and people struggling? About two friends.

The study found that people who report good mental health typically have five people they can rely on. Those with poorer mental health have just over three. And that gap—small as it sounds—is the crack where things start to break. It’s the space between “I’m overwhelmed, but I’ve got support” and “I don’t want to burden anyone.”

How Many Close Friends Do You Actually Need?

A lot of us have gotten good at doing everything right on paper: we show up, we smile, we’re funny and helpful and down to hang. But we keep the real stuff locked up. Sometimes we don’t want to look weak. Sometimes we’ve just forgotten how to have a real conversation. Either way, it creates a whole population of people who look fine and feel completely alone.

The report also found that nearly half of Australians don’t feel confident talking about mental health—even when someone else opens up first. Not because they don’t care, but because they don’t know what to say. So we keep things surface-level. We joke about burnout. We call it “being busy.” And the space between us grows.

But connection isn’t a luxury. It’s not an extra. It’s the thing that keeps us standing when life falls apart. And building that kind of friendship doesn’t take a TED Talk or a perfect support circle—it takes one person willing to say, “Hey, I’m not great today.”

You don’t need a new app. You don’t need a therapist in your friend group. You just need someone who’ll actually pick up when you call—and who knows you’d do the same.

Five people. That’s the number. And even if you’re starting from zero, that’s something you can build. One real conversation at a time.

The post How Many Friends Do You Actually Need? Science Says This Is the Number. appeared first on VICE.

Tags: FriendsLifeNews
Share201Tweet126Share
Trump bans burning of US flag in defiance of constitutional protections
News

Trump to order voter ID for every vote, ‘no exceptions’

by Al Jazeera
August 31, 2025

United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to sign an executive order requiring voter identification from every voter. “Voter ...

Read more
News

Three victims of Florida 18-wheeler U-turn crash ID’d as Haitian immigrants: report

August 31, 2025
News

Here are all the ‘Workers Over Billionaires’ protest locations in L.A. on Monday

August 31, 2025
News

Jeremy Lin Retires After 15 Years That Included ‘Linsanity’ With the Knicks

August 31, 2025
Entertainment

Jude Law debuts portrayal of Vladimir Putin in ‘The Wizard of the Kremlin’ at Venice Film Festival

August 31, 2025
Drones blasting AC/DC and Scarlett Johansson are helping biologists protect cattle from wolves

Drones blasting AC/DC and Scarlett Johansson are helping biologists protect cattle from wolves

August 31, 2025
Xi meets Modi as China and India seek to rebuild ties

Xi meets Modi as China and India seek to rebuild ties

August 31, 2025
The U.S. Wooed India for 30 Years. Trump Blew That Up in a Few Months.

The U.S. Wooed India for 30 Years. Trump Blew That Up in a Few Months.

August 31, 2025

Copyright © 2025.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • U.S.
    • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Culture
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Sports
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Autos
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel

Copyright © 2025.