Social Connectedness Is A Very Big Thing

Social Connectedness: Friendship and Support Is A Very Big Thing

Witmer and Sweeney found in their study that people with few ties to others had 2 to 5 times the death rate as those who had more ties.

Social connectedness can be a powerful tool in preventing illness by acting as a buffer to the effects of stress. The benefit of friendship is by garnering the emotional support of a community during difficult times.

Social Connectedness: Recognizing The Benefit Of Friendship and Support

Workplaces are also recognizing the value of support in their organizations. Effective leaders are evaluating their teams and ensuring that they reduce isolation, celebrate occasions and successes, develop trust through effective communication, deal with conflict and gossip in a direct and open way, promote a casual and friendly atmosphere and develop a support network through human resources, an EAP or connection to community contacts.

Unfortunately, many people in the workplace do not make the effort to utilize this great coping strategy and the busier we have become the easier it is to let our existing friendships go by the way-side. So where do we start?

Beverly’s Hot Tips On How To Build Resilience and Celebrating International Friendship Week:

Smile and say hello to those around you
Connect with your co-workers informally
Be part of a work team
Participate in wellness programs and seminars
Make use of human resources, EAP, and health services
Call, write or email those friends that you have lost touch with and book a date to get together

Social connectedness and group involvement have exceptional powers in decreasing our stress, if we venture to put ourselves ‘out there’. Beverly Beuermann-King Click to tweet