Community connections
Social connection is one of the most effective ways to keep your mind healthy, and it’s often the first thing to drop away when you are anxious or depressed.
You can feel a sense of Whakawhanaungatanga, belonging, purpose and contribution, and if the group involves helping others, you will get a double positive hit - helping others is another way to lift your mood and give you purpose.
We were never meant to live in isolation - our brains are hardwired to exist in groups, and to make us feel average when we are alone (for ancient evolutionary reasons). The more you remove social connection from your life, likely the worse you will feel. And the harder it will get. Common humanity is a necessary way to deal with hard stuff - we’re all in this together.
Loneliness has become an epidemic - we see people less, we work from home more, and social media friendships are replacing real human connection. This is most likely why anxiety and depression have exploded. Lockdowns have not helped either. We can even feel lonely in a room full of people, if we have no shared connection with them.
The way out of this? Community. Recommending social and community groups, or “social prescribing” is when someone like me recommends a community group to get you involved in life again, with real people. Even if it feels terrifying at first, sometimes the only way to get beyond this fear is exposure (just do it).
You are a very important piece in a larger puzzle.
For more information:
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/social_connection/definition
https://www.mindwise.org/blog/uncategorized/the-importance-of-social-connection/