Good Friends, Good For You:
Health Story

Aired on Lifetime Television
Sunday, October 7 and November 25, 2007
Show 421

Best friends Lisa Jernigan and Patty Wyatt love to laugh. But it was the tragedies in their individual lives that bonded them when they first met. Patty says, "Lisa had recently had her mother pass away from cancer. And my mom was murdered here in the valley from a random shooting." Lisa says, "I think one of the things we both realized going through those tragedies that you can be extremely okay and be extremely sad." Both of their moms were known for bringing women together. So Patty and Lisa took their shared passion and their mother's legacies and formed Girlfriends Unlimited. Now, thousands of women across the nation have joined what's called shared interest groups in Girlfriends Unlimited. For Patty and Lisa, the success of Girlfriends Unlimited has been a huge part of the healing process. But for a lot of people, it doesn't go this well. For someone who doesn't have a support structure in place, or is lonely, things can go quite differently. John Cacioppo of the social psychology program at the University of Chicago says, "There are a variety of ways in which loneliness affects health. All the effects are adverse."