The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. Greater Cleveland Chapter encourages understanding of the importance of Self-Care & Friendships

Enrich your life and improve your health Discover the connection between health and friendship.

Your friend gets your joke. Your co-worker offers congrats. Your spouse hugs you hello. They are all helping you bust stress and boost well-being. In fact, Mental Health America found that 71 percent of people surveyed turned to friends or family in times of stress.

Humans are social animals: We crave feeling supported, valued, and connected.

Research points to the benefits of social connection:

• Increased happiness. In one compelling study, a key difference between very happy people and less-happy people was good relationships.
• Better health. Loneliness was associated with a higher risk of high blood pressure in a recent study of older people.
• A longer life. People with strong social and community ties were two to three times less likely to die during a 9-year study.

Sometimes connection is a heart-to-heart, spill-it-all-out talk. But sometimes it’s just a laugh-out-loud e-mail.

Excerpt from Mental Health America

About NC100BW Greater Cleveland Chapter The NCBW Greater Cleveland Chapter, Inc. was founded October 3 1990, with Margaret R. Barron as the chartering president. NC100BW Greater Cleveland Chapter is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization. In accordance with the organization’s overarching mission the Greater Cleveland Chapter implements programs that provide an effective network among African-American women and other women of color; establish links between the Greater Cleveland Chapter and the corporate and political sectors; enable African-American women and other women of color to be a visible force in the socioeconomic arena; meet the career needs of these women and facilitate their access to mainstream America; use the tools of role modeling and mentoring to provide meaningful guidance to young women; and recognize the historic achievements of African-American women and other women of color.