Connecting with others to benefit our mental health
Having good relationships with your family, friends and colleagues is important as it can:
- Improve your feelings of belonging and self-worth
- Give you the chance to share positive activities and experiences
- Provide emotional support for you and allow you to support others
There are lots of things you can do to stay connected and build stronger relationships (either in person or remotely), such as:
- Spend time together as a family every day (e.g. over dinner)
- Go for lunch with a friend
- Call someone to find out how they are or send them a text message
- Travel home from work with a colleague
- Make the most of video chat apps like FaceTime and WhatsApp
If you're not sure where to start, are feeling isolated or unsure about reaching out to connect with others, it's ok to ask for help:
- Barnet Friends is a telephone befriending service for adults from 18 to 55 who may be experiencing isolation or loneliness.
- Age UK Barnet's Befriending service is for Barnet residents, aged 55 and over, who are lonely and isolated due to frailty, physical disability or other circumstances.
Connecting with others is part of the 5 ways to wellbeing, which are a series of steps recommended by the NHS to help boost your mood and make you feel more positive.
Read more about the 5 steps we can all take to improve our mental health and wellbeing and discover more resources to help boost your mood at Good-Thinking.uk.
For more resources, tips and local support services, visit the Healthy Mind pages.