Love/ShutterStock
Today, Valentine's Day, many will celebrate their love while, unfortunately, at the same time, soldiers and civilians who have been injured to varying degrees since the outbreak of the war are being hospitalized.
Most of them are surrounded by family, friends and partners.
Beyond the technical assistance required in the rehabilitation process, the support and love shown by the relatives of the injured, especially their spouses, actually affects the chances of recovery and the ability to return to life.
Noy Raz, chief psychologist in the Sharon district of Maccabi Health Services, summarized some medical benefits of love:
love can heal wounds
even if it sounds too romantic to you, it's probably the truth.
A study examined 37 couples who, as part of the experiment, had small cut wounds on their arms.
It was found that the more positive the interaction between the couple was in the following days, the higher the levels of the bonding hormone (oxytocin) in their blood and also the faster the wounds on their arms healed.
Closeness and love cause the release of oxytocin.
Many studies have found a connection between intimacy and touch and an increase in oxytocin levels in the blood, and a better response of the immune system.
In another study, couples who for four weeks were instructed to increase the amount of physical contact between them, demonstrated an increase in oxytocin levels, while among couples in the control group no increase was recorded.
Love/ShutterStock
Closeness can save lives
It would not be an exaggeration to say that close and good relationships can save lives while loneliness can be deadly.
Another study found that good relationships may increase the chances of survival in general by about 50% regardless of age, gender and health status.
Loneliness, on the other hand, increases the risk of developing various health problems with a similar probability to obesity, lack of physical activity and smoking 15 cigarettes a day(!).
Love and romantic relationships also have an effect on pain.
People who are in romantic relationships report less back pain and headaches than people who experience loneliness and lack of connection.
Not only our physical health is affected by love and connection, but also our mental health.
Romantic relationships have been found in many studies to be a resilience factor against anxiety and depression.
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Any type of proximity can help
Along with all the advantages of closeness, studies show that a significant percentage of the population reports loneliness.
Up to 43% of Americans over the age of 60 report feeling lonely often in the past year.
Following the accumulated knowledge on the subject, health bodies around the world are working to increase awareness of the importance of marital and social relationships as a significant resilience factor.
The good news for singles is that even close non-romantic social relationships and even adopting a pet can have a positive effect on physical and mental health.
The exciting and almost imaginary stories of soldiers who were seriously injured and managed against all odds to recover and get back on their feet, are largely thanks to the partner or woman who is by their side.
The feelings of love, touch and the substances secreted in our bodies within the framework of a marital relationship - dramatically affect the body's ability to recover and heal after serious injuries.
It turns out that all we need is love - it's much more than a beautiful line from an iconic song.
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