HOW DO RELATIONSHIPS DEAL WITH OUR MENTAL HEALTH?

 

Extensive evidence shows that having good-quality relationships can help us to live longer and happier lives with fewer mental health problems. Having close, positive relationships can give us a purpose and sense of belonging.

Humans are social beings. Mahatma Gandhi wrote: "Where there is love, there is life." Whether you consider yourself a social butterfly, are drawn to personal interactions, or prefer your own business, there is no denying that the quality of your personal relationships can affect your levels of happiness, well-being and physical health. This article highlights how relationships can protect our mental health.

All of our lives we depend on each other to survive. Being self-aware allows us to see this need, prompting us to seek enriching relationships in our efforts to connect with others. Keep in mind that relationships go beyond being romantic and include family, friends, and coworkers. Researchers believe that people spend 80% of their time in front of others, so maintaining positive and healthy relationships is important. According to the Mental Health Foundation, a relationship is "the way two or more people are connected, or the state of connection."

Mental health problems can have a profound impact on a person's close relationships; Expressing emotions and connecting with others can be challenging.212 Experiences of depression can make us want to withdraw and isolate ourselves, and avoid social contact, making it difficult to maintain relationships with our friends and family.213 Social anxiety can make it very difficult for someone to form and maintain relationships due to overwhelming fear and consequent avoidance of social situations.214 Similarly, people with eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, have reported problems with close relationships due to difficulties they experience. They can have to express and share how they feel.

Social connections are really good for us and loneliness kills. People who are more socially connected to family, friends, or the community are happier, physically healthier, and live longer than people who are less connected.

• It is not just the number of friends you have, and whether or not you are in a committed relationship, what matters is the quality of your close relationships. Living in conflict or in a toxic relationship is more harmful than being alone.
• Good relationships not only protect our bodies, they also protect our brains. Good quality relationships were associated with sharper memory.

The Mental Health Foundation defines relationships as "the way two or more people are connected, or the state of connection." Research explored in this report shows that social connection and good relationships can make us happier and enhance our sense of well-being9 by giving us a sense of security, support, and meaning in our lives.

Relationships require reflection, time, courage, and grace. Modern life often reduces the space to do this. Many of us are under pressure, whether it's tests, work commitments, or financial pressure. In a message to decision makers and the public, our report reinforces the message that productivity should not come at the expense of our collective ability to connect with one another.

Research has shown that family relationships are critical to children's happiness, highlighting quality as one of the six domains of life, along with health, personal finances, education and skills, that contribute the most to well-being general of children.

Many of these relationships can help us maintain our mental health, but relationships are often complex and any of these relationships can create difficulties and challenges that negatively affect us.

While being in a relationship can have positive health benefits, it is important to recognize that unhappy relationships are more destructive than being single. Research has shown that bad or unhappy relationships have a greater negative impact on physical and mental health than not being in a relationship.

While intimate relationships can have significant positive effects on our mental health and well-being, not all relationships go smoothly, and even those that do can go through difficult times.

Losing relationships through grief has significant potential to isolate and exclude them later in life. People aged 75 and over are the most isolated and lonely, as they are more likely to envy and live alone. Women are at higher risk of isolation because they live longer than men, and older women are more than twice as likely as older men to feel trapped in their own homes. Research shows that there is an increased risk of the elderly going to nursing homes or sheltered housing after the loss of a partner.

Relationships with the people we love are the foundation of our lives. However, the importance of our relationships goes beyond how they affect our emotional well-being. The evidence is clear that the quality of relationships even affects how long we live. Relationships require reflection, time, courage, and grace. Modern life often reduces the space to do this. Many of us are under pressure, whether it's tests, work commitments, or financial pressure. In a message to decision makers and the public, our report reinforces the message that productivity should not come at the expense of our collective ability to connect with each other. Healthy relationships can not only add years to our lives, but also give us a greater sense of purpose in the years that we are. You owe it to yourself and to those around you to take care of your close relationships; you will probably find that it is worth the effort.