Farming can be lonesome work. Long hours in the field or on a tractor by yourself can be stressful, giving you lots of time to sit and think about all the things that are causing you stress. Research has shown that stress-related hormones are actually higher in people who are lonely and have low social support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To be healthy, we all need human connection; we all need social support.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/files\/2023\/03\/circle-of-dancers-1024x548.png\")
What is Social Support?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Social support is important for your well-being\u2014it helps make you resilient to stress and you need it to thrive. What exactly is social support? Simply put, social support is the network of family, friends, neighbors, and community members that are available when you need their help. When we think of social support, we think about two things. First, is the size of your support network and how frequently you connect with them. Second is the kind of support you get from members of your support network. This can be emotional (things like love, friendship, sympathy) or practical (such as help watching the kids, lending you a piece of equipment).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How is Your Social Support Network?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nStop and take a minute to think about your social support network. Who is there for you when:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- You need a sympathetic ear?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- You want to kick back and relax?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- You need to think and solve a problem?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- You need help with a task or a resource?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
If you only come up with a few names, it may be time to try to build a few new relationships or deepen some you already have. Maybe that means connecting with people at church, or spending a little more time talking with folks at the supply store. It can take a little effort, but these connections are really worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You Need to Use <\/em>Your Social Support Network<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nJust knowing you have a network isn\u2019t enough, though. You have to actually reach out and connect with people in order for them to support you. When was the last time you called that good friend of yours, or your brother, or any of those names you thought of when I asked the questions about your network?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You may be hesitating to reach out because you\u2019re thinking that you don\u2019t want to be a burden or a bother. But, the great thing about social support is that it is a two-way street. When you connect with someone as a friend, you are giving emotional support at the same you are receiving it. In fact, studies show that what makes people consistently happy is focusing on and helping others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take a minute and make that call or have that conversation. Reach out, and remember–we are stronger together and together we can thrive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Farming can be lonesome work. Long hours in the field or on a tractor by yourself can be stressful, giving you lots of time to sit and think about all the things that are causing you stress. Research has shown that stress-related hormones are actually higher in people who are lonely and have low social […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":300,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions\/300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
If you only come up with a few names, it may be time to try to build a few new relationships or deepen some you already have. Maybe that means connecting with people at church, or spending a little more time talking with folks at the supply store. It can take a little effort, but these connections are really worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n