Social Support: The Best Pillar Of Our Well-being

We’ve all been through sticky situations where we need our loved ones to move on. This social support fulfills the role of a “crutch”, as it helps us to get up and prevents us from falling again when we take the next steps.

It seems evident that having a good social network will help us in our life, isn’t it? Knowing that we can count on those who are important to us comforts us. In fact, from an early age we seek to relate to others. Without knowing the reasons that lead us to this, we look for others to love and understand us. Why?

What is social support?

Intuitively we could think that social support is the number of social relationships of an individual. But to think of it as the amount of ties we have seems like a very uncertain simplification. We will also add the people with whom we have this type of relationship, whether they are members of our family, co-workers, etc. We already have more information, but we still feel that it is too little.

How about if we add the consequences that the person gets from having this social support? The concept takes an interesting turn, doesn’t it? In fact,  social support is all of that. It includes the quantity, quality and characteristics of social relationships, along with how the individual perceives them. In this, they influence:

• The notion of emotional closeness or intimacy.
• The source of support : whether they are friends, professional caregivers, family, social or religious organizations, etc.
• The type of support.
• The amount of support received.
• The person’s perception of support : the degree to which we perceive the existence of sufficient and adequate relationships that support us.

How does social support influence the development of psychological disorders?

Having a good social support network will help us keep our psychological health strong. In fact, protection has been shown to be an important factor in coping with stress, mitigating its negative effects on our health, both mental and physical. But how does social support influence our psychological well-being?

The advice we receive from people who matter to us can influence our assessment of the situations we face. On the other hand, our self-esteem and sense of control can be developed by the emotional support our loved ones offer us. In this way, we will be stronger to face what is to come.

So, if our social support network helps us to regulate our emotional responses and reinforces us when we try to act in the face of conflicts, it is helping us to face things better. In addition, it will be boosting our personal growth.

However,  there are also times when our social network is, by itself, a source of anxiety and stress. This occurs when the people who are part of it behave in an excessively protective way towards us, preventing us from putting in motion our coping mechanisms in the face of the situations in which we live.

Does social support have any effect during chronic diseases?

Chronic diseases are in themselves a stressful element, both for those who suffer from them and for those closest to them. For example, the effects of acquired brain injury on the patient’s family members were studied. It was also found that this injury involves a considerable change in the lives of patients, who in general have to change their lifestyle. But not only that, they also have to follow a treatment that can be quite exhausting, depending on the case.

The social support available to them will significantly influence the disease. It has been shown that  a reduced level of this type of support can cause people to adopt to a lesser extent healthy lifestyle habits. This change in behavior related to our health is very important, mainly due to the evolution that this type of disease can have.

Furthermore,  if patients perceive the social support they have as something positive, they will continue their treatments more effectively. This will improve their health, and they will also find that their well-being is satisfactory. This social support network is so important that interventions are carried out with the patients’ families, such as those diagnosed with severe and chronic mental illnesses.

But we are not just talking about the support provided by your loved ones. Social support also includes health professionals who are in contact with the patient. The relationship between doctor and patient turns out to be a key factor in the objective improvement of health.

That is,  when the professional is able to adequately transmit information to the patient about their disease and its treatments, they show greater adherence to these. Thus, the symptoms of the disease are more likely to improve and have a positive impact on the patient’s state of mind.

Social support is definitely a protective factor for our physical and mental health. But not always. It is necessary that the support offered by our social network reinforces our self-esteem and that we ourselves consider it as valuable. If, on the contrary, this support is to overprotect us or if we consider that it is not adequate, the effect will be the opposite. The important thing is to know the benefits that social support can offer us and let it act when we need it .