Mental health is not a luxury – it’s foundational to every part of life, including showing up for family and friends, holding a job, getting through school, enjoying rest and relaxation, and simply being able to connect with others.
Rural Minds, a non-profit organization that serves as the informed voice for mental health in rural America, encourages individuals to seek help during times of struggle with loneliness or isolation. If you are feeling lonely, here are some steps that can help you build social connection:
- Understand the power of social connection and the consequences of social disconnection by learning how the vital components (structure, function and quality) can impact your relationships, health and well-being.
- Invest time in nurturing your relationships through consistent, frequent, and high-quality engagement with others. Take time each day to reach out to a friend or family member.
- Minimize distraction during conversation to increase the quality of the time you spend with others. For instance, don’t check your phone during meals with friends, important conversations, and family time.
- Seek out opportunities to serve and support others, either by helping your family, co-workers, friends, or strangers in your community or by participating in community service.
- Be responsive, supportive and practice gratitude. As we practice these behaviors, others are more likely to reciprocate, strengthening our social bonds, improving relationship satisfaction, and building social capital.
- Actively engage with people of different backgrounds and experiences to expand your understanding of and relationships with others, given the benefits associated with diverse connections.
- Participate in social and community groups such as fitness, religious, hobby, professional and community service organizations to foster a sense of belonging, meaning and purpose.
- Reduce practices that lead to feelings of disconnection from others. These include harmful and excessive social media use, time spent in unhealthy relationships, and disproportionate time in front of screens instead of people.
- Seek help during times of struggle with loneliness or isolation by reaching out to a family member, friend, counselor, health care provider or the 988 crisis line.
- Be open with your health care provider about significant social changes in your life, as this may help them understand potential health impacts and guide them to provide recommendations to mitigate health risks.
- Make time for civic engagement. This could include being a positive and constructive participant in political discourse and gatherings (e.g., town halls, school board meetings, local government hearings).
- Reflect the core values of connection in how you approach others in conversation and through the actions you take. Key questions to ask yourself when considering your interactions with others include: How might kindness change this situation? What would it look like to treat others with respect? How can I be of service? How can I reflect my concern for and commitment to others?
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