Professor of Health Psychology on Psychophysiological Mechanisms of Stress in Daily Life · Leiden University

So social animals need to be connected. Lonely animals show chronic stress responses and die earlier if these needs are not met. Now, what are our concrete, non-negotiable needs? How many friends are enough to keep our default stress response down? Our social media needs, the need to talk, touch, and so on? And what physical spaces do we exactly need? How much nature do we need to be in? Stress science needs to stop studying stressors and focus on what we need to be healthy. Finally, this is not only health. It reduces our general performance, our cognitive flexibility, our creativity and exploration, our mood, and our libido.