Regular activity, healthy nutrition, not smoking and maintaining an ideal weight. These are some things you’ve probably heard about to maintain physical and mental wellbeing. And it’s all true. But missing from this list is the need for social support. Social support is vital for your health and without it, your physical and mental wellbeing could deteriorate.
What is Social Support
Social support is the support and comfort you receive from others. The support can be emotional, such as love and empathy, practical, such as giving a ride to the airport or helping someone move, or encouragement, praising a colleague’s work or providing constructive advice. This support can come from family, friends, neighbours, colleagues and even strangers.
There are also formal social support programs, which have been around for decades, with one of the earliest being Alcoholics Anonymous. These are more aptly called peer support programs as they match people together based on health/disease conditions. Similar programs have expanded to addictions, mental health issues and chronic diseases. These support groups can provide comfort and improve confidence, as well as improve healthy behaviours and disease outcomes such as managing blood sugar.
For most of us, our social support networks are less formal, but no less important. But not everyone has strong social support networks. And some groups are more likely to have smaller social support networks than others. People with mental health challenges and disability tend to have smaller networks. As do marginalized groups (LGBTQ+, immigrants), the elderly and middle-aged men. Many teens also report not getting the support they need. This is likely due to a combination of the recent pandemic cutting kids off from social groups and those teens reporting high social media us.
The Benefits of Social Support
People with higher social support have proven to be more resilient during the pandemic. They were less likely to report anxiety and poor quality sleep. People with strong social support are also more likely to be happy, have a higher well-being and report their mental health as very good or excellent. Social support is also associated with a lower chance for getting depression.
Over the long term, having a healthy social life can be great for your quality of life, well-being and longevity. People who are socially isolated are more likely to suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Whereas having a strong social network is associated with a 50% reduction in early death. This is similar to the benefits of quitting smoking. There are even indications a robust social network can improve your immune system.
In Sardinia (off of Italy), it’s common to see people living well into their 90s and some into their 100s. Despite having a laborious life, the people of Sardinia have a strong support network where they’re always together with others. It is this strong social support that’s believed to have a role in their extended lifespan.
The Biology of Social Support
Humans are a naturally social species. This has evolved as cooperation is a necessity for survival. While we’re not going out on group hunting expeditions like our ancestors did, we still rely on cooperation with others. And there are biological processes that reinforce the need for cooperation.
Being around people gives us opportunity to share our stories and listen to theirs, and rant about what’s bothering us. This can help alleviate stress and accompanying physiological responses such as increased cortisol and blood pressure that come with it. It’s also an opportunity to smile and laugh.
When we feel better, we smile but smiling also makes us feel better. From MRI studies, we know that forced facial expressions actually turn on areas of the brain associated with that emotion. So someone forcing themselves to smile, can become happy. Even if you didn’t feel like smiling to begin with.
Laughing has even more potential benefits. Laughter elicits a physiological response that results in the release of hormones called endorphins. Some people refer to these as the happy hormones, which act as pain suppressers and make you feel better. In a series of experiments, researchers demonstrated that laughing increases one’s pain threshold. Laughing also results in a cascade of events that leads to better function of the arteries which may be associated with reducing chances for heart disease. And if that isn’t enough to make you smile, laughter therapy has been shown to reduce anxiety in kids (and parents) in hospital and even reduce complications from diabetes.
Tips to Increase Social Support
The key to a strong social support network is not how many people you know, but the quality of those relationships. Having people that care about you, that you trust and enjoy engaging with is the key.
- Reach out to someone: The advancement of technology has opened up how we can connect without being in the same room. Video calls allow us to see each other and can reduce feelings of loneliness and depression. But even hearing a familiar voice can help. Children who talked to their mothers either in person or by phone following a stressor released oxytocin.
- Build your social network: While you can join a class or community program to meet people (which is a great idea), you don’t have to. Having a regular schedule within your community can make you a familiar face. For example, going to the gym, a coffee shop or dog park at the same time is a good way to become a regular and meet other regulars.
- Accept and offer help: Accepting help from others is a good way to build trust and deepen connections. The same with offering to help others. Whether it’s an old friend, long-lost family member or your neighbour. You can get the benefits of social support and the knowledge (and benefits) of helping someone in need.
- Try the 5-3-1 rules of socializing: Interact with at least five people per week (family, friends, strangers). Give yourself three deep interactions per month from your circle. Spend at least one hour daily on a social interaction.
- Join a group: This can be a class, fitness program, hobby group or anything that interests you. You’ll get to meet people with the same interest. There are also many organizations that conduct meet-ups and dinners among strangers for the purpose of meeting other people, such as Meetup.
- Join a support group: Regardless of your needs, background and culture, there’s likely an in-person or online support group for you.
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