Friendship after 40: rebuilding your circle

Friendships often thin out in midlife. Work, kids, moves and simple busyness push them down the list, and it can happen so gradually that you do not notice until you realize there is nobody to call. Research links strong social connection with better health and a longer life, and loneliness with worse outcomes, so this is not a soft topic. Many men in particular report having few close friends outside their partner, and many women describe feeling like the support for everyone else with little coming back. Both are worth changing.