Social support can be helpful, but it doesn't always make managing stress easy. While having friends and family to lean on is important, depending too much on them can sometimes lead to disappointment and upset.
Here are a few reasons why this happens:
Expecting Too Much: When we look to friends or family for support, it can hurt when they don’t meet our needs. This can make us feel even lonelier and increase our stress. We might also worry about bothering them, which can stop us from talking openly about what’s bothering us.
Negative Relationships: Not all relationships are good for us. Some can actually add to our stress because of arguments or negativity. This makes it hard to tell which relationships are helpful and which are harmful.
Being Too Dependent: Relying on others for support can make us feel weak. If we depend on them too much, we might forget to build our own ways to deal with stress. This can leave us feeling lost when we don’t have that support.
To tackle these issues, it’s important to have a mix of supportive relationships.
Building our own skills to cope with stress, like meditation, writing in a journal, or talking to a therapist, can help us feel stronger.
Also, taking time to understand healthy boundaries in our relationships can reduce feelings of being a burden. This way, social support can work better for us in managing stress.
Social support can be helpful, but it doesn't always make managing stress easy. While having friends and family to lean on is important, depending too much on them can sometimes lead to disappointment and upset.
Here are a few reasons why this happens:
Expecting Too Much: When we look to friends or family for support, it can hurt when they don’t meet our needs. This can make us feel even lonelier and increase our stress. We might also worry about bothering them, which can stop us from talking openly about what’s bothering us.
Negative Relationships: Not all relationships are good for us. Some can actually add to our stress because of arguments or negativity. This makes it hard to tell which relationships are helpful and which are harmful.
Being Too Dependent: Relying on others for support can make us feel weak. If we depend on them too much, we might forget to build our own ways to deal with stress. This can leave us feeling lost when we don’t have that support.
To tackle these issues, it’s important to have a mix of supportive relationships.
Building our own skills to cope with stress, like meditation, writing in a journal, or talking to a therapist, can help us feel stronger.
Also, taking time to understand healthy boundaries in our relationships can reduce feelings of being a burden. This way, social support can work better for us in managing stress.