Your Support Team

What is social support, why are we making such a big deal of this, it is defined as the belief and experience that emotional and material resources are available to each of us. You know what the benefits of social support are, what the benefits that each one of us have by getting this social support. Well, there are many. Number one is, it’s linked to a longer life expectancy and a better immune functioning. It assists in recovery from illness and one’s ability to cope with extreme stress and loss that provides people with emotional insurance and acceptance. It helps him to recovery from both physical and mental stress to help provide a buffer from life stressors. It improves blood pressure and lowers blood pressure. Research has shown that those who have support will feel more connected and more intimate with others can enhance their health, well being and even their quality of life. One of the most popular and landmark studies looking at social support was done by David Spiegel, single study looked at support groups with women with metastatic metastatic breast cancer. This usually kills most women in two years, he randomly divided 86 women into two groups, one standard medical medical care and one with standard medical care, with once a week, group therapy sessions, women in the group that received the group therapy session shows less depression, anxiety and pain than those in the standard treatment group. In addition, women the experimental group with the treated treatment live twice as long as the control group. Though this study has been a landmark to showing the importance of social support, it is yet to be replicated and researchers are not clear as to why this is. However, other studies have looked at the health benefits of social support and found similar positive results. Another landmark story, study the Nurses Health Study from Harvard Medical School found more friends women had the less likely they were to develop physical impairments as they age, and the more likely they were to be leading a joyful life, not having a close friend or a confident is detrimental to your health, as is smoking to carrying extra weight. On the flip side research studies have found that people have lower levels of social connection are three to five times more likely to die prematurely from multiple causes of death, including heart attacks, stroke, some cancers, infectious disease, autoimmune diseases, substance abuse and suicide, low social support has been prospectively linked to the later of incidence of heart disease, a prospective study that found 736 middle aged men for six years found that low social support scores reliably predicted heart disease. Noting a relationship as strong as the connection between heart disease, and smoking. Now you might understand why we want you to start helping identifying and build your social support around your healthy habits as quickly as possible. In a perfect world you’d experienced this program alongside your spouse, friend, family member, child or co workers, don’t be shy about inspiring others to give this a try with you, and maybe the best decision you made for yourself and for them.