Health Feature Articles
Social support good for your health
Gail Carlson, MPH, Ph.D., former Health Specialist, Continuing Medical Education, School of Medicine, University of Missouri
Building relationships with others
is important to our health. Who are the important people in your
life? Who makes you feel better about yourself? Healthy supportive
relationships contribute significantly to our sense of well-being.
Think about your support system for a moment. Get out a piece
of paper and draw five concentric circles – a small circle in the
middle and then four more around it, making each circle a little
bigger. When you are done, your drawing will look like a target.
Make the circles big enough so that you can write in them.
- Write your name in the inner most circle, the smallest one.
- In the next circle write down the names of your immediate
family members. Usually these would be people you live with.
A spouse, your children; possibly your parents or a brother
or sister if they live with you. Some people include their pets.
- In the next circle write the names of other family members
or friends. These are people you feel close to but who don't
live with you. These are people you can count on. Include people
in this circle who you feel make a real difference in your life.
This could include grown children who no longer live with you,
your brothers and sisters, grandparents, cousins and friends.
Maybe you would put your minister in this circle. Every person's
network is different. You might decide that your minister belongs
in this circle while someone else might feel they belong in
the next circle.
- In the fourth circle write down the names of acquaintances.
These could be neighbors, distant relatives, people you work
with, a minister, individuals from your church or a social group
you belong to. These are people who you might stop to say hello
to if you saw them on the street but you wouldn't share any
secrets with them. Your contact with these individuals is more
limited and more formal.
- Now think about all the people in the community who have an influence on your life even though you don't know them by name – the mayor, county commissioners, policemen, teachers, social workers, the hospital administrator, public health nurses, the bank president, business owners, the YMCA, etc. These are people/organizations who influence your life because of the rules and policies that they set. Some represent formal sources of assistance and help that goes beyond what families or friends can provide.
Your social network is a valuable resource. Research suggests that
people with large support networks are healthier. Support networks
have an effect on your mental and physical health. They can help
you deal with stress and grief and ward off isolation and depression.
Your social support network influences your physical health by influencing
when you go to the doctor and for what. Your network also impacts
your ability to make health related behavior changes. It is difficult
to reduce fat or salt in a diet, or to become physically active
on a regular basis when family members and friends make fun of you
or discourage your efforts to change. On the other hand, it becomes
easier to maintain a behavior change or carry out a treatment plan
when you have the support of family and friends.
As we move further and further from our inner circle, our trust level and commitment to people diminishes. Our attitudes to a great degree determine which people we assign to each of these circles. The tighter we draw our circles, the more we close ourselves off from people who could make a difference in our lives. Look at your support network and think of strategies for moving more people into the inner circles of your network. You and they will benefit.
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Last Updated 05/01/2012
