Social Well Being - Importance Of Social Connections - Social Life - Social Interactions

If you talk to someone that has recently  moved, started in your job, or retired, and ask them what they miss most about their past  situation. One of the most common answers is that they miss the people that were in their life.  What that actually means is that they miss the social connection, or relationship that they had  with those people.

Social connections or social interactions with other individuals is crucial  to mental health, which in turn is crucial to overall health. The lack of social connections  has shown to increase stress hormones, weaken the immune system, and lessen cardiovascular  function. People who are lonely tend to consume more alcohol, exercise less, have less quality  sleep, and fatigue easily.

Social relationships allow you to share your achievements, and have  support when times are tough. Imagine achieving a long-term goal you have, what's the first thing  you want to do, tell someone of course. Or, imagine if something terrible happened, not having someone  to lean on and talk to can make that event linger and make you feel even more isolated. 

Giving support in relationships can actually be more beneficial than receiving support. When  someone shares something positive in their life with you, it's a compliment, they wanted you to  be a part of their success, and they know that you have a sincere interest in their life. And  when someone shares a tragedy in their life, you know they really trust you, and they're looking  to you to help them through this difficult time.

Now, some social relationships can be bad,  a person that is constantly negative and has a poor outlook, can bring you down and cause  stress, making that relationship toxic. Someone that always talks about themselves and makes all  of your interactions about them, well, that's not really a social connection. In that case you're  just an audience member in their one person show on how wonderful their life is.

Poor marital  or poor relationship quality, can also weaken the immune system and erode physical health. Dealing  with stress from a poor relationship can lead to over consuming food or alcohol, smoking, or taking  medications to deal with the stress, which in turn can damage systems in the body. Connections  through social media can be beneficial by allowing you to stay in touch with friends and  family, however, social media connections are not a good alternative for face-to-face in person  contact, too much time spent on social media can lead to more isolation and a greater feeling of  loneliness.

It's a good practice to use social media in moderation. To be healthy we need people in  our lives, it doesn't need to be 5,000 Facebook friends, and we don't have to have everyone like  us. Having strong social relationships with just a few people is fine, a few people that we  can share life's good and bad moments with, a few people that we can connect with on a regular  basis, with no stress, and no judgement.

A few people who accept us for who we are. Surround  yourself with good people folks. Good people.