While social support looks different for everyone, it is a necessity in maintaining mental health and ultimately physical health. When dealing with difficulties, especially medical ones, it is imperative that the one suffering has an active and supportive social group, whether it’s family, friends, or even strangers. It can be easy for people to isolate themselves when they are struggling, but humans are not made to be alone, especially in times of need.

Everyone has different desires and needs when it comes to how much social support and activity they experience, especially during recovery or a diagnosis process. “Something Old, Something New: When Gender Matters in the Relationship between Social Support and Health,” an article in Sage Journals examines self-rated benefits and effects of social support throughout different times of diagnosis. The research focuses on gender disparities and differing frequencies of contact. It was concluded that men and women equally benefit from maintained support from family throughout the recovery process. Generally, it seems that people desire less contact at the beginning of their diagnosis. Likely, these people are in denial- believing that they can take care of themselves without depending on their friends and family. Gradually, they become less obstinate and accept help. But those who were forced (by proximity) to continue social interactions maintained better mental health and were better able to concentrate on recovering their physical health.

But does social support really help physical health? There seems to be a correlation for sure, but is there a causation? The article” Psychological pathways linking social support to health outcomes: A visit with the ‘ghosts’ of research past, present, and future” expands on the idea that social support improves both mental and physical ailments. The article argues that while there is research proving a correlation between social support and physical health, causation is not proven. However, the article does argue that social support can have a direct impact on mental health, which then can have a direct impact on physical health. For example, social support during times of need can assist in the reduction of stress levels, which in turn can allow a patient to spend more energy on their physical health rather than other adjacent stressors. Often, when people think of social support, they consider it to be only an emotional factor, but this shows how the emotional aspect can impact physical health as well.

In a Stories to Save Lives interview, Vickey Everhart, an adoptive mother describes how after she adopted a little boy with extreme, long-term health problems, her community continually supported her both fiscally and emotionally. She describes how “He was the face of every little kid who everybody always thought wouldn’t make it, and he’s still here” because of “the community coming together at that time to help raise funds” [0:46:55]. Everhart shared that without the support of the community, she would not have been able to afford all of the care he required. Because of the support given to her son, he can continue receiving treatment and they can focus their energy on recovering rather than the other stressful aspects of trying to receive health care.

Another article, titled, “Living with long-term consequences: Experience of follow-up care and support needs among Asian long-term colorectal cancer survivors” describes the long-term necessities of different types of support-focusing particularly after treatment has occurred. All the data described in this article comes from personal interviews and accounts of the patients. Many of them expressed fear of returning symptoms and how support from their friends and family, as well as doctors, helps to ease their anxieties. Even after treatment, patients are forced to deal “with unceasing adaptation demands” causing them to rely on those around them (Yoon, 1559).

Nellene Richardson, in a Stories to Save Lives interview, explains her experiences with treating and working with people suffering from addiction. She describes how she has witnessed many people go into rehab and 30 days later when they’re released, go straight back to the substance. She describes how because the rehab centers are so isolated, people have a difficult time when they have to return to the real world. Nellene created a program that focuses on implementing families into the recovery process. Nellene describes how they have seen a huge increase in the number of successful treatments when social support is included. People who go in with others have a much higher likelihood of staying clean because they don’t feel isolated; they don’t feel like they are fighting the addiction by themselves anymore.

Stories like Abby Norman’s “Ask Me About My Uterus” demonstrate just how secluding and straining long-term illness can be. She describes how isolated from the outside world she felt. Nobody seemed to understand what she was going through, and for most of her life, she did not have a support system. She described how her mental health suffered which caused her to lose focus on her physical health. Struggling with mental health alone is extremely difficult, and with added physical illness, living can become near impossible, and without the support of friends and family, or even strangers, it is unmanageable.

I have struggled with my mental health for most of my life, and after multiple TBIs (traumatic brain injuries) my physical health has also been greatly affected. I have a strong tendency to self-isolate as a coping mechanism; isolation has always made it more difficult for me to heal. I have found that people who are willing to be there for me when I’m struggling, make my life so much easier. They give me the motivation to let myself heal. I have personally witnessed the effects of good social support.

The United States culture values independence and isolation much more than is healthy. People often feel uncomfortable asking for help from even their close friends and family. Programs have developed that are trying to reimplement community for those who are going through treatment, but with the cultural values so deeply rooted, it will be difficult to make significant changes.

References

Donato, Katharine M., et al. “Something Old, Something New: When Gender Matters in the Relationship between Social Support and Health.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior, vol. 59, no. 3, 2018, pp. 352–370., https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146518789362.

Norman, Abby. Ask Me about My Uterus: A Quest to Make Doctors Believe in Women’s Pain. Bold Type Books, 2019.

Richardson, Nellene. Interview with Lauren Frey. 5 June 2019 (Y-0122). Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007), Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Uchino, Bert N., et al. “Psychological Pathways Linking Social Support to Health Outcomes: A Visit with the ‘Ghosts’ of Research Past, Present, and Future.” Social Science & Medicine, vol. 74, no. 7, 2012, pp. 949–957., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.023.

Vickey Everhart. Interview with Caroline Elfrid. 26 June 2018 (Y-0021). Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007), Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Yoon, Sungwon, et al. “Living with Long‐Term Consequences: Experience of Follow‐up Care and Support Needs among Asian Long‐Term Colorectal Cancer Survivors.” Psycho-Oncology, vol. 29, no. 10, 2020, pp. 1557–1563., https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5452.