In a pathbreaking finding, authors of the study have highlighted that maintaining social connections and regular social interaction, including visiting your friends and family members may actually have a protective effect on reducing the risk of depression and can also positively impact your mood.

“Far and away the most prominent of these factors was the frequency of confiding in others, but also visits with family and friends, all of which highlighted the important protective effect of social connection and social cohesion,” Psychiatrist Jordan Smoller at Harvard Medical School noted.

The findings highlighted the importance of socialising and the crippling impact of its absence, especially in the current scenarios of social distancing and lockdown measures, where staying in touch with our family members and friends is more difficult than ever.