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SOCIAL SUPPORT INCREASES POSITIVE OUTCOMES
taken from Health Psychology: Stress and Heath by Richard O. Straub
Social support provides assistance and encouragement from others in
order that they may better cope with situations. Support is usually
provided by friends, relatives, or peers, but can also come from churches,
groups, etc. Studies have shown that social support can have a huge
impact on reducing stress because an individual is able to decrease
the stress response hormones in her or his body. In other words, social
support helps individuals cope more effectively by talking with 'supporters'
right then. Studies show social support can improve recovery time and
decrease medical complications, decrease mortality rates, decrease stress
of those who are terminally ill, and decrease risks of illness and/or
mortality at any age.
Types of Social Support:
1. Emotional Support:
confiding in friends about feelings and problems
2. Instrumental Support:
individuals who help us on a more 'non-personal' level, i.e.,
child care, home repairs, car maintenance, etc.
3. Information Support:
seeking advice and practical information
4. Social Companionship:
sharing events such as recreational activities
Benefits of Social Support:
1. Emotional Support:
Talking about what's going on can reduce stress and help individuals
work through
problems and feel better about themselves.
2. Instrumental Support:
During times of overload, illness or injury, individuals can take care
of our children,
help with tasks or errands or drive us to medical appointments.
3. Information Support:
After an 'event' occurs, it helps to talk to people who have been through
a similar
experience and can share the lessons they've learned. These individuals
can also show us how to use a computer, fix our vehicle, write a resume,
etc.
4. Social Companionship:
We need people in our support system with whom we can enjoy a cup of
coffee, a meal, a walk, or simply time to visit.
It seems that many individuals find it hard to open up to others because
they feel weak when they admit there's a problem, and because, so often,
individuals don't trust that others will keep the information confidential.
And yet, many individuals discuss personal information with total strangers
such as hairdressers, taxi drivers, etc. This shows people feel a need
to talk about their feelings although they're selective about whom they'll
open up to.
How To Develop and Use A Support System:
1. Find people whom you trust and who care about you. All you need are
a few close friends or relatives.
2. The best time to develop a support system is before you need it.
3. The best way to develop a support system is to give support to others.
This will establish a relationship based on trust and goodwill.
4. Confide only what's comfortable for you. Venting feelings is more
important than sharing details.
5. Turn to people with whom you feel comfortable, i.e., relatives, friends,
neighbors, colleagues at work, family doctors, clergymen, or even specific
professionals such as therapists.
6. Stay positive and continually 'self-talk' to yourself that you are
strong and valuable. We all feel stressed, angry, frustrated or scared
at times, but having problems doesn't mean we're weak, it only means
we're human.
The research does not say that we need an extremely large support system.
What we need most is one or two really good friends and then a larger
group of friends and acquaintances who can provide the different types
of support - emotional, instrumental, information, and social. It is
difficult for one person to supply all that support, but with a variety
of friends and acquaintances we can build a strong support system to
help us through difficult situations. And then we can provide support
to others who need us!
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