What is Social Support?
Social support is the emotional and physical comfort and care given by family, friends, romantic partners, co-workers and others.
Types of Social Support
Emotional Support
Emotional support encompasses reassurance, love, and care. In particular, people are emotionally supportive when they regularly check in to see how you’re doing, tell you that they care about you, show empathy and/or listen to you.
Tangible Support
Tangible support is direct practical support. This encompasses monetary or physical support. For example, some people may give money or food as monetary support. Others may help with cooking, cleaning or other chores as physical support.
Informational Support
People provide informational support when they provide information and/or advice that helps the patient.
The Importance of Social Support During Concussion Recovery
According to research, fostering social support during concussion recovery may help decrease anxiety and depression, as well as enhance community integration. This is beneficial as concussion has been linked to anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. It has also been found that social support can improve psychosocial and emotional functioning. Improving psychosocial and emotional functioning are pivotal during concussion recovery because this can improve the prognosis of concussions. For example, improving emotional functioning can help concussion patients regulate their emotions and develop coping mechanisms for their mental health.
Personal identity is also incredibly important for concussion survivors. Social support is crucial for the reconstruction of personal identity as when concussion survivors receive proper social support and validation, it is easier for them to reconstruct their identities.
Unfortunately, most concussion survivors report low social support from their social network and healthcare providers. This stresses the urgency for caregivers, family members, friends, peers, colleagues and healthcare providers to actively provide support, empathy, and validation of suffering and pain. Simply showing validation for the pain and suffering that concussion patients must endure is a method of showing social support and has been found to be an effective therapeutic intervention.
Barriers to Social Support
Concussions are an invisible disability. As a result, many concussion survivors do not receive adequate recognition and social support as many people do not understand the severity of concussions.
There may be a sense that others do not understand or cannot empathize with the personal experiences of the individual who has suffered a concussion, and this sense of disconnect may jeopardize much-needed feelings of closeness and connection. Simply talking to a trusted friend, family member, or therapist may feel cathartic enough to provide a sense of comforting connection and relief that a concussion survivor may be seeking.
Other nonspecific aspects of the concussion recovery process may also be barriers to social support. For example, the initial concussion recovery process requires significant cognitive and physical rest. During this time, concussion patients may have to take time off of school, work, extracurricular activities, hobbies and/or social activities. This can foster feelings of social isolation, mood swings and frustration, thereby making it difficult for others to provide social support and interact with concussion patients. Sharing personal experiences with trusted individuals or a therapist will pave the way for the connection and support that will be therapeutic for concussion survivors.
References
Kita, H., Mallory, K. D., Hickling, A., Wilson, K. E., Kroshus, E., & Reed, N. (2020). Social support during youth concussion recovery. Brain Injury, 34(6), 784-792. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699052.2020.1753243
Stålnacke, B. M. (2007). Community integration, social support and life satisfaction in relation to symptoms 3 years after mild traumatic brain injury. Brain Injury, 21(9), 933-942. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699050701553189
Todd, R., Bhalerao, S., Vu, M. T., Soklaridis, S., & Cusimano, M. D. (2018). Understanding the psychiatric effects of concussion on constructed identity in hockey players: Implications for health professionals. PloS One, 13(2), e0192125-e0192125. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192125