The perceptions of social support

Social support is an important in all aspects of life, but it can be most crucial in situations involving people living with terminal illness. A study titled “Victims’ perceptions of social support: what is helpful from whom?” by Dakof and Taylor, discusses some of the concerns and issues of social support as well as some of its beneficial factors. The article followed several patients who were diagnosed with cancer.

Some people may only look at certain ways that social support can be beneficial, while forgetting that there are ways that social support can have a negative impact. According to a previous study, In some cases the patient’s significant other can physically avoid them, avoid open communication about the victimizing event and consequences, fake or force cheerfulness or minimizing of the patients circumstances. All of these can cause disturbances in the psyche of their loved one.

55 participants were selected from a pool of 668 patients. The participants were interviewed asking who had helped them during their times of need, as well as demographics, health status and social support participation. So what made the difference? Firstly, the person. The study showed that who it was made a significant difference in if the support was considered helpful. While almost much everyone was considered helpful friends, family, physicians, nurses and other patients. The only one not found to be an exception was acquaintances, and physicians were only marginally significant. The other major factor in support was the category of support. The study revealed that esteem/emotional support is most commonly considered helpful or even unhelpful if the support is misguided or absent. Esteem/emotional support was also considered most helpful when from someone intimate or close, while informational support was best received from health care providers. There are also finding that different types of social support can be valued from many different individuals within ones social network. These results were particularly stronger when the other individuals were engaged in similar stressful events. While in previous studies, there had shown issues regarding complaints concerning the spouses, family or others close to them, physically avoid them, avoid open communication about the victimizing event and consequences. The results did not show similar in this study, as not one participant issued complaints about avoidance of family members. The data also did not support the avoidance of open communication. Some other concerns when comparing the new data with the old, is that some of the relationships such as physician and patient, were not properly considered when computing the data.

So now you find yourself asking, how can I help? Well, the answer varies depending on your relationship, but chances are if you are reading this you are most likely a loved one. So most importantly, be available to give emotional/esteem support to them. Express concern, empathy, or affection, be accepting of their condition, and provide assistance and optimism whenever possible. While doing this it is important that you avoid certain unhelpful actions such as being critical of the condition, minimizing impact on the patient, being pessimistic, or lack of expressed concern or emotion. Be the best partner you can be, and give the best social support for you friends/family that you can. When they make it though the rough parts they will never forget your help.

The secret to a longer life…? Is leisure!

Have you ever wanted to know the secret to a healthy and (most likely) longer life? The answer may be a bit simpler than you think. Relax and Do what you enjoy.

Association of Enjoyable Leisure Activities With Psychological and Physical Well-Being, a study by Pressman et al, 2009, tell us how leisure activities can have positive affects on our health. The purpose was to study the changes in blood pressure (systolic and diastolic), body mass index, waist circumference of people who participated in leisurely activities. There has been a significant amount of research on health regarding getting more sleep, proper diet, avoiding drugs or alcohol, and getting exercise, but there has not much has been examined regarding the positive effects of simply enjoying life. The theory was that the strain and depletion that is put on the body through daily stressors could be counteracted, to an extent, though enjoying simple leisurely activities. What is a leisure activity? Simple! It’s pretty much anything you want to do to get away from stress (that isn’t blatantly bad for you). For me it would be skating, getting coffee or (my favorite of all) napping. For others it could be reading a book, going on a vacation or going on a hike.

The items measured were: Sociodemographics characteristics, PEAT (Pittsburgh Enjoyable Activities Index) a constructed index which gauged the frequency of participation in enjoyable activities, Psychosocial Measures including positive and negative states and moods, health behaviors, and physical/physiological measurement.

The first finding was that higher SES (socioeconomic status) was correlated with higher PEAT scores. This may be because people in wealthier areas tend to have more available time and money to engage in leisurely activity, I thought this was to be expected, to an extent. Education, may have also held an influence. Secondly, was that higher PEAT scores were associated with positive psychosocial (also less negative) characteristics. People with higher PEAT scores also scored higher in positive affect, life satisfaction and life engagement, and had lower levels of negative affect and depression.  Third, that higher PEAT scores also correlated with better physiological functioning. People with higher PEAT scores had lower waist circumference, diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, body mass index and cortisol area under the curve. The study also showed that the greater the PEAT scores the higher the sleep and exercise outcomes were. PEAT activities also seemed to lower the stress of negative life events and increased were found in mood and health.

Basically in a whole, People who engaged in more leisure activities were found the be healthier, not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally. Engagement in these activities not only increased positive moods, but was also found to decrease negative moods. With all the combined positive benefits and reduction of negative influences, it seems that it could be concluded that taking moments to enjoy life will actually make you live longer. In conclusion, go get your nails done, read that book, hang out with friends, do whatever your heart desires, because it is good for your health. Have Fun!

About Me

My name is Kevon Ross. I am a 5^th year undergraduate psychology student at University of California, Riverside. I am a member of different clubs including being an officer of two. The clubs include Skateboard and Long board club at UCR, Highlander Gloves, and Drive at UCR. Being active in these clubs as well as mainlining my grades and staying in shape take most of my time. I am from Hermosa Beach, CA. It is a small city on the coast south of Los Angeles. I enjoy skateboarding, surfing, practicing mixed martial arts, cars, working out, watching movies and hanging out with my friends. My goal in life is to become wealthy enough that my kids will not have to work. This is not to say that they will not work, but rather they can choose any profession they are most passionate about and never have to worry about their income. My other goal is to visit Tahiti once again. I traveled there once before and it was simply the most breath taking event I have ever experienced.

Growing up in Hermosa Beach has been a very interesting experience. It was nice to live in such an interesting community. I would describe the city as a laid back beach community, with a certain amount of wealth and an interesting night life. It caused for many stories and no shortage of thing to do. I was very fortunate to be able to live in a wealthy community like that for most of my years. The weather, scenery, and even the people are beautiful You constantly see famous people as well. Some celebrities, some comedians, some singers, writers, producers, and many professional athletes. It was interesting when I started telling people my neighbor was a professional basketball player to see how blow away they were. It was a bit odd because they would think of him as some inhuman character and I would be left thinking ‘only if they knew how much time he spent playing guitar hero’.

In college I had no idea what I wanted to do, I started by covering the general education courses and eventually tried a psychology course. It was one of the first courses where I was interested the entire class. I found myself always wanting to go an learn more. The terms seemed to makes sense and I knew it was going to be my major from there out. I initially thought I was going to be a clinical psychologist. It seemed like an option that would be most intriguing. I always have enjoyed people, so I figured lets get more people in the mix. I was disappointed to later find out that this is not how clinical psychology works, and it is not uncommon to not like the people you would be working with. I am unsure on my career path at the moment, but it is between two options. First, is to continue in psychology. Through this path, I would be come a sports psychologist and hopefully, be able to do research and also spend some time working with some professional athletes and teams. The second, is to enter into law school and work as a business attorney. Unfortunately, both would require more schooling, but working hard is a thing I always consider myself willing to do. Luckily, I maintain a strong passion for both of these options.