Social activity is one of the best medicines

There's safety in numbers - but socialisation is also good for your health. Photo / Getty Images

Being part of a social group can be better for a person's health and well-being, and can even provide better protection against memory loss and the effects of ageing than many drugs and medicines, scientists have said.

Studies have shown that when people feel part of a close-knit group they are less likely to suffer heart attacks, are more able to cope with stress and are better at retaining their memory than people who become socially isolated.

Conventional medical treatments have focused on the individual but it could be better to concentrate on making patients feel part of a wider social group, said Professor Alex Haslam of the University of Exeter.

"We are social animals who live and have evolved to live in social groups. Membership of groups, from football teams to book clubs and voluntary societies, gives us a sense of social identity," Professor Haslam said.

"This is an indispensable part of who we are and what we need to be to lead rich and fulfilling lives. For this reason, groups are central to mental functioning, health and well-being."

A five-year study of 650 stroke patients found that those who were part of a close-knit social group were significantly less likely to suffer a second life-threatening problem over a given period of time.

"Standard medical factors such as hypertension, lack of exercise and family history of coronary artery disease increased the risk of a second life-threatening incident by between 10 and 30 per cent," Professor Haslam said.

"Social isolation increased the incidence of a secondary, life-threatening event such as a heart attack. It doubled the risk after one year," he said.

Another study, involving 70 residents of care homes for the elderly, found that if people were put into groups of five individuals and asked to discuss their memories or play a game of skittles, they did better than those who did the same things on a one-to-one basis.

"After six weeks of this group therapy you get a 12 per cent increase in standard memory tests. If we had a drug that worked that well you could sell it for a lot of money," Professor Haslam told the British Science Festival.

"The point is that the drug is us. The drug is the social group. When you do the same therapy individually you don't get the same improvements," he said.

The same kind of effect was also seen in a study of firefighters who were asked to rate their sense of group cohesion. Those with the strongest sense of being in a group were more resilient to stress.

In a study of 42 antisocial incidents captured on CCTV cameras, scientists found that incidents involving bigger groups were less likely to end in violence than those involving just a few.

"When individuals engage in confrontation with each other, that is much more likely to end in violence. The more other people come in and get involved, the more likely they are to defuse the situation," Professor Haslam said.

"Groups are good for us in every sense."

- INDEPENDENT