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Are you looking for someone special to share your life with but don’t want passion, romantic feelings, and sexual desire to complicate things? Maybe you want to identify the type of relationship you have with a certain person. Maybe you’ve heard of platonic relationships, and you are curious about what that term means.
In this article, you’ll learn all about platonic relationships and the benefits of being in a platonic relationship.
Romantic Relationships Versus Platonic Relationships
Connecting with another person is a basic human need. Whether it’s with family members, friends, college buddies, or workmates, relationships are essential for our holistic well-being.
We live in a world that’s dominated by dating sites, relationship-focused reality television shows, and romantic-themed movies and books, we’re led to believe that a romantic/sexual relationship is the only type of relationship that will satisfy us. But is this true?
Contrary to popular culture, familial and peer pressure, a romantic relationship isn’t the only type of relationship that’ll satisfy us. Although platonic relationships involve love and companionship like other relationship types, it’s a unique type of human connection that surpasses all others.
Classical Definition of a Platonic Relationship
The term “platonic relationship” was originally derived from the name of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. During his philosophical dialogue in the “Symposium”, Plato and other eminent Athenians including Socrates seek to define love and discuss the differences between what they called “earthy Eros” and “divine Eros”.
In comparison to Eros which is primarily based on the appreciation of physical beauty and sexual attraction, Plato believed that “platonic love”, is the highest form of love. This divine type of love transcends the appreciation of physical beauty and is an appreciation of the beauty of the mind, the soul, and the spirit.
Modern Definition of a Platonic Relationship
The modern definition of a platonic relationship is when two people share a deep bond of friendship and a strong emotional connection. They may feel love and affection for each other, but they don’t have a sexual relationship.
The French novelist Marcel Proust eloquently described a platonic relationship, “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
Characteristics of Platonic Relationships
Several characteristics distinguish platonic relationships from other types of relationships. These are just a few.
- A deep closeness. You have a deep closeness with your platonic partner that you don’t have with anyone else. You share intimate details and can talk for hours.
- Mutual interests. You have a lot of interests in common such as films, music, and social activities, and have similar world views.
- Understanding. Your partner understands you, you respect each other and feel comfortable together.
- Acceptance. Even if you go off script, make a mistake, or disagree, you will not be judged. You are 100% accepted for just being you.
- Honesty. You can be open and honest with each other about your thoughts and feelings. No topics are off-limited. Your partner will always stand by your side and defend you no matter what you say or do.
- Share a soulmate connection. Both of you say you were destined to be together. You may describe your relationship as an intangible, mystical, soulmate connection. You often know what each other is thinking and feeling without any words being spoken.
Types of Platonic Relationships
Another great reason to pursue a platonic relationship is that there are different types of platonic relationships such as:
Bromance
The term “bromance” comes from a combination of “brother” and “romance”. Bromance describes a very strong bond, emotional intimacy, and friendship between two men. It’s a loving, affectionate but non-sexual relationship. Men who are in Bromance relationships feel free to speak their minds and express their emotions without compromising their masculinity.
Womance
The term “womance” comes from a combination of “woman” and “romance.” It refers to a strong, vibrant, and affectionate bonding between two women that exceeds that of a usual friendship. In a womance, two women will share high levels of emotional intimacy, but the relationship is non-sexual and non-romantic.
Work spouse
The term “work spouse” or “work husband” or “work wife” refers to a close, non-sexual relationship between two work colleagues, usually a member of the opposite sex. Work spouses share a non-sexual relationship that’s characterized by a close emotional bond, support, trust, honesty, and loyalty.
Can Platonic Relationships Involve Physical Intimacy?
While platonic relationships don’t typically involve intimacy such as cuddling, kissing, and even sex, it’s still possible that couples still might be attracted to each other and want to take their relationship to the next level.
To avoid confusion and awkwardness between platonic partners, clear communication needs to happen about physical attraction. Both partners need to be clear about their feelings and make sure that they agree that they want their relationship to become a romantic one.
Health and Happiness Benefits of Platonic Relationships
Human beings were made to be in healthy, loving, and supportive relationships. While familial and romantic relationships are important, it’s the strong connections that are forged in a platonic relationship that’ll be extremely beneficial for your health and happiness.
In their book, Low-Cost Approaches to Promote Physical and Mental Health, Sias and Bartoo describe a platonic relationship as having a “behavioural [psychological] vaccine” that protects you against physical and mental illnesses and so much more. Here are some of the benefits you’ll enjoy from being in a platonic relationship.
Improved brain function
It’s a fact of life that our brains can wear out just like our bodies do. While vitamins, exercise, good food, and crossword puzzles can help to slow down the decline of our cognitive abilities, strong friendships improve brain function too.
Supportive platonic relationships can increase cognitive resilience against brain aging and reduce the risk of brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Lower the risk of mental health issues
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than one in five adults in the United States live with a mental illness and it’s estimated that 57.8 million people in 2021 suffered from some sort of mental health issue.
Living with a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder poses many challenges, but these disorders can be exacerbated by loneliness and social isolation. When a person is socially isolated, their physical, mental, and cognitive health can be affected.
Although a meaningful platonic relationship doesn’t solve mental health problems, spending time with a close friend that offers emotional support, and a listening ear can help to improve a person’s mental health and lower the risk of stress, anxiety, and depression.
Always remember to seek help from a medical professional for ongoing mental health issues.
Maintain a healthy heart
One of the major diseases in the world today is heart disease. High blood pressure can damage the arteries in the heart and cause this muscle to weaken over time, which can lead to heart failure and other types of diseases.
According to the Mayo Clinic, adults who have “strong social connections have a reduced risk of many significant health problems, including depression, high blood pressure and unhealthy body mass index (BMI)”.
Improve your immunity
Having strong immunity is important for our overall physical health. Our immune system protects our body against diseases, infections, germs, bacteria, antigens, and harmful substances, and helps us recover quickly from an injury.
One of the ways you can boost your immunity is to spend time with close friends. Sharing your joys and troubles with others will keep your immune system in tip-top working condition.
Cope with stress
We all experience stress every day. Stress is a normal reaction to everyday situations but too much stress especially long-term stress can have a determinantal effect on our minds and bodies.
Stress can cause tense muscles, headaches, depression, insomnia, heartburn, and high blood sugar, just to name a few ailments.
Knowing that you have a close friend that you can talk to about your troubles will help you to cope better with stress. You may even learn new ways to combat your stress from your platonic partner.
Make wiser decisions
Just about every moment of every day, we make decisions. These decisions may involve daily living activities, health, family, marriage, relationships, money, education, and work.
Making smarter decisions can be a challenge especially if it’s decisions that will dramatically affect your quality of life and others.
Having someone you can rely on and trust to bounce ideas off and ask for advice will help you to make wiser decisions and give you greater peace of mind.
Live longer
We all have different personality types. Extroverts like to be around lots of people and introverts prefer their alone time. Regardless of our individual temperaments, being alone all the time is not good for us. Being socially connected isn’t just beneficial for our daily health, but it can also help us to live longer.
In a review that was published in the PLOS journal, researchers conducted a study that involved collating data from 308,849 individuals who were followed for an average of 7.5 years.
Researchers concluded that there was a 50% greater likelihood of survival from participants who had strong, positive social relationships compared with those who didn’t have adequate relationships.
Deal with trauma
Coping with a traumatic event is one of the toughest challenges anyone can face. Whether it’s the death of a loved one, a serious illness, losing a job, or divorce, we can feel overwhelmed with pain, anger, fear, frustration, and despair.
Not dealing with the aftermath of trauma can affect the body, cause serious health issues, and lead to harmful lifestyle habits. Talking with someone you trust may not always help you to resolve an issue, but it will make the problem easier to bear. The saying “A problem shared is a problem halved” may be cliched but it’s true.
Too much trauma dumping on friends can be painful for both parties and some issues need to be handled by medical professionals. Still, a close friend who knows you intimately can help you to see your problem in a different light and you can work together to get your life back on track again.
Live a happier life
The great psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud once said that people “strive after happiness; they want to become happy and to remain so.”
While happiness means different things to different people and can be elusive at times, one thing is for certain, we are better human beings when we are happy. We work better, we play better, and we are nicer people to be around.
Platonic relationships make a significant difference in our lives, but it does depend on the type of person we are friends with. Our platonic partners will not be perfect as humans cannot attain perfection, but they do need to be trustworthy, dependable, and understanding, and being happy and positive helps too.
One research study that involved more than 4,000 adults showed that when a person had a happy friend who lives nearby (within a mile) their happiness increased by 25%.
Despite the value of such research, just being around a happy person makes us feel great, that we can conquer the world, and help us live a happier, more fulfilling life.
It’s always a good idea to know about all star signs so you know which star signs are better suited for you and your personality. So why not read our informative article on Zodiac Signs and be better informed when choosing your platonic partner?
Maintaining a Successful Platonic Relationship
How successful your platonic relationship is will be dependent on mutually shared benefits between a couple. Your platonic partner should stand by you in the bad times and celebrate with you in the good times. They should offer help and support when you need it and give you space when you need it, and you should do the same.
Helpful tips for finding a platonic partner
It can be challenging to find quality friends so if you feel alone there are places you can go to find companionship. Community groups, sports clubs, the gym, religious groups, volunteering groups, local charities, professional networking groups, and friendship apps.
Conclusion
When you are in a platonic relationship, the world will be a brighter place and you can face challenges with confidence knowing that you have a trusty partner by your side. Best of all, you don’t have to worry about physical intimacy or sex issues confusing your special relationship with your platonic partner.
Diana Jane Heath
Based in Sydney, Diana has worked as a freelance writer for over 5 years. She is passionate about writing and helping people reach their full potential and to live a more successful life.
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