Community and connection are essential for coping in the time of corona

As schools, workplaces, physical gathering areas, and houses of worship close to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus, we hope to protect ourselves and others from getting sick and even potentially dying. 

While “social distancing,” or staying away from other people, is hypothesized to flatten the curve of the contagion, it is not without costs. Decades of research show that social support is vital for our mental and physical health. So, how do we best maximize and maintain social participation and supportive relationships in this state of semi self-quarantine?

There are answers in the scientific data. Social connections have historically been measured in terms of size and contact frequency, whereas social support consists of four broad dimensions – emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal. Emotional support means providing comfort and receiving expressions of concern. 

This included things like letting someone know that you care about them or telling them you recognize they may be having a hard time or listening should they feel a need to talk. Instrumental support means providing concrete aid, including goods and services. This can mean driving someone to the doctor’s office if they need a ride or lending money to cover their electric bill if they are out of work.

Informational support involves providing practical problem-solving assistance when asked, such as giving advice or feedback. During these times of COVID-19 related stress, this might include letting local friends know what restaurants are open for home-delivery or the best websites for educational worksheets to help one’s children maintain engagement in the event of school closures. 

Lastly, appraisal support involves providing information and feedback that is useful in letting a person know how they’re doing. For example, expressing concern to someone about their health if they are not responding to your texts or seem to be getting depressed due to home isolation.

Typically, in clinical studies, we assess not only an individual’s perception of these various forms of support but also people’s satisfaction with such support. 

Decades of research show that lack of support or social isolation has detrimental mental health outcomes in a variety of populations, conditions and circumstances. For example, social disconnection has been shown to increase the risk of falls in older adults. Social support can also mitigate the stress and challenges associated with a range of stressors. 

For example, healthy social connections have been proven to mitigate a teenager’s adjustment to college, buffer the effects of functional impairment in those recovering from the removal of a brain tumor, defend against the emotional consequences of combat deployment in injured service members, and serve as a source of protection against suicidal ideation in young adults.

Social support is also related to our well-being more generally. We are measurably happier when we have good support. 

Dr. Steven Southwick, a professor at Yale School of Medicine and an internationally-recognized expert in resilience explained the imperative of social connection, “The need to belong is hard-wired into our nervous system.

The sharing of resources and safety through connection was essential to survival for our ancestors. When we were separated, for whatever reason, from our pack, we were at risk for starvation and injury. Social connection is a necessity, built into our biology.” 

In times of a pandemic, face-to-face interpersonal interactions are understandably highly discouraged. But there are other ways we can foster social connectedness and a sense of belonging.

Fortunately, with the growth of electronic communication and social networking sites, we have additional avenues for interpersonal connection. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Snap Chat, LinkedIn are some of the most popular social media sites worldwide. 

Though these forms of social media have different features, many provide for communal sharing of personal information through written messages, photos, and videos. Others allow you to comment on posts or show verbal or non-verbal appreciation with thumbs up likes. 

A recent systematic review of 27 studies found that support on Facebook positively impacted people’s general health, mental health and well-being. Social support on Facebook was predictive not only of better mental health but also decreased levels of depression, anxiety and loneliness. 

Relatedly, in a much smaller investigation of several hundred adults, Twitter use was associated with greater benefits for those with lower in-person social support. Namely, positive effects increased for those who were following and being followed by more people, and for those who were actively engaged in sending and receiving more tweets. 

This method of connection, however, is not about exclusively scrolling through our accounts, but about finding ways to engage in positive ways. For example, a detailed analysis of the conversation and content of online social support indicates that understanding and empathy are key elements that should be present for positive effects to take place.

Of course, there are some caveats to the positive link between social networking and emotional health. Excessive sizing up or comparisons to others on social media is understandably not good for our psychological health and self-esteem. 

Honest self-disclosures, as opposed to Pollyanna portrayals, are also more advantageous. Overextending one’s social media friend group, by increasing connections to folks with whom we are not actually close, can lead to a dilution of the positive effects. 

In addition, some data suggest that if adults intensively or compulsively use social media as an escape from daily stress, this can have negative consequences for their mental health. For sure, it’s important that social media users strike a balance between giving and receiving support. If there is too much of an imbalance over time, the result is poorer well-being. Finally, excess support, which is receiving more support than one wants, can also lead to a negative mood for those who would rather be left alone. 

Successfully combating COVID-19 is imperative, but we must also find alternative ways to maintain connections. Since face-to-face in-person support is limited or inaccessible, we can offset this loss by finding other available ways to connect and receive support.

Of course, when we return to non-emergency times, social media should not compensate for or replace in-person friendships or long-term, deep connections. But right now, social media connections are needed more than ever to help people receive the support they need. I for one just re-activated my Facebook account. 

Joan M. Cook, Ph.D. is a psychologist and an associate professor at Yale University who researches traumatic stress and clinically treats combat veterans, interpersonal violence survivors and people who escaped the former World Trade Center towers on 9/11.