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Live Long with Sex, Marriage, Faith and Pets

© Robert M. Oliva

Since the Speigal study, hundreds of valid scientific studies have been conducted that virtually prove the need for social relationships to maintain robust health and recovery from disease. But what is social support?

Social Support Defined

Social support is simply the degree to which our basic needs are met through interactions with other people. It's our perception that we can count on others to be there when we need them to solve a problem or to provide help in a crisis. Effective social support usually will include most of the following:

• Our sense of being cared for and loved with opportunities for intimacy;
• Our sense of being held in high esteem and valued by those around us;
• Companionship based on good communication and mutual obligations;
• Access to information, advice and guidance;
• Access to physical and material assistance.

Our social support system provides a variety of resources. Some of these come in the form of direct support such as lending money, being taken to the doctor's office or grocery shopping and watching the kids when we're ill.

But the social network needs also to provide emotional help in the form of affection, understanding, empathy, listening and esteem. Having people we can confide in and that respect our circumstances is a key component to any support system. When both the direct support and the emotional support are balanced we have the lasting affect of health and recovery.

How does Social Support Really Work?

Although it is not precisely known how social support works to keep us healthy it is clear that the amount of social support we receive influences our bodies. According to the authors of Mind/Body Health, social support systems directly affect our biological processes "such as neurendocrine responses, immune responses and changes in blood flow." Some have gone so far as to state that all diseases are social diseases. In other words, a breakdown in the social structure precipitates a breakdown in the body's immune system. It appears that good friends are as important to health as your vitamins and minerals.

Friends and Family are Good Medicine

The Mind/Body Health Newsletter reports that in a landmark nine-year study of 4,725 men and women death rates were twice as high in those that were socially isolated. The researchers looked at marital status, contacts with friends and relatives, and church and group membership. Other studies have also noted a strong link between social isolation and death:

• Single men 45 to 54 died at twice the rate of married men of the same age;