Feeling supported and giving support to others benefits health and pain
By Paul Bolger. Chartered Physiotherapist at Nano Physiotherapy, Kilkenny (www.nanophysio.ie).
No man, or woman, is an island. We are all interconnected. This has been the case for as long as we have been on this planet. It’s been a fact for so long that it has seeped into our inner biology, into our genes, into the workings of our bodies. A study from Harvard running for 85 years found that positive relationships were the primary psychological factor predicting a better and longer life.
Feelings of loneliness, just like sadness or pain, are an uncomfortable fact of our existence. They entangle us at times, but, when they come in a healthy way, they pass. Prioritising the relationships in our life not only makes us feels good, but it has a very real positive impact on our health.
Feeling Supported
Feeling supported and cared for have been shown to reduce levels of pain, change outlook and even alter our inner biology.
In pain experiments, the presence of a supportive loved one results in lower levels of pain being felt, despite the painful stimulus (e.g. an electric shock) being the exact same. Even just thinking of a loved one has a similar effect on pain.
In experiments of outlook and perception, standing next to a friend makes us see the slope of a hill as less steep than when we are standing alone.
The presence, or even simply the thought of a loved one increases activity in brain regions associated with safety and can switch our inner biology into a calmer, safer state – with lower stress hormones, decreased blood pressure and lower levels of inflammation being shown in experiments.
Feeling Supportive
The benefits that we get from our relationships aren’t just associated with being supported, there are very real and powerful benefits to feeling supportive towards others in our lives.
Providing support and care to loved ones is associated with lower blood pressure and living longer. In brain science research, giving support to other results in lower activity in brain areas associated with threat and fear, and increased activity of areas to do with reward and safety.
Acting in ways that benefit others, as opposed to benefitting ourselves, has been shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body.
All this said – it is well known that caregivers (e.g. care workers, family of people with high care needs) have higher levels of stress and depression than other people – so a balance of giving and receiving support seems to be important.
Lay Your Supportive Foundations
Many of us tend to focus on negative experiences and sometimes overlook the positives. As the research shows us that even reminders of loved ones can lessen pain and lower inflammation, it might be a useful practice to give ourselves regular reminders of the positive relationships and experiences in our lives.
Volunteers have been shown to have a healthier inflammatory balance in their bodies – perhaps helping out in our local community, or offering support those close to us, could give us similar benefits?
A great thing about us humans is that we each have different strengths, different things to offer those around us. Whether what we offer is physical or emotional, if we organise a gathering or just give our quiet presence, if we can give words of advice or simply a listening ear, we are all in this together.
