The research is startling: friendship has been proven to boost our health, decrease anxiety and depression, increase our lifespan, and be a buffer against addictions, prejudice and extremism. And yet rates of it are declining in the West. Why? In this session, drawing insights from the new Friendship Lab project, we will unpack some of the reasons friendship gets side-lined in both culture and the church, explore the barriers academic life brings to friendship formation, and how we can prioritise it in our lives.
