What's important? Being Social or Social Being

 

▪️Many of you might have thought the title was just a click bait or a simple wordplay. The beauty of any language lies in its grammar and the same is applicable to the title. Just swapping their positions gives an entirely different meaning to them , which is relevant to everyone, especially in the current times.

▪️Being Social refers to the present day person who spends more time in social networking over direct interaction with a person. Social Being refers to the age old human being who interacts with people and befriends them.

▪️The famous Greek philosopher, Aristotle told that "Man is by nature a social animal." The word Social is derived from the Latin word Socius which means a friend. So it's our inherent nature to communicate and socialize with people.

▪️Most of the millennials have entered their 30's. At this age, most of them might be dealing with a lot of stress.  Many may deny it because either it is in a subclinical stage or they themselves aren't aware of it, but few of them admit it. Now stress is multifactorial. It might be Work related stress, Personal life related stress, Emotional stress or a mix of all of them. 

▪️Many of us would unanimously agree to the fact that college life (early teen age) was the best phase of our life. It's because one has friends and good social life & limited responsibility . Once they graduate and get a job, their life become busy and responsibilities increase. A hectic life coupled with reduced social contact , sows the seeds of stress. 

▪️There are many studies proving the effect of social contact on mental health. One of the study proved that Social connectedness was found to be a stronger and more consistent predictor of mental health year-on-year than mental health was of social connectedness.

(https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0004867417723990)

▪️Another study proved the negative impact of social media on mental health. Usage of Facebook led to increasing anxiety and depression in college students. 

(https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/study-social-media-use-linked-to-decline-mental-health)

▪️In some highly developed countries like Japan, people have become so lonely that it's legal to rent a boyfriend or girlfriend on an hourly basis at an exorbitant price. Companies in Japan are hiring "Handsome weeping boys" at a hefty price to tackle work related stress. The idea is to show one’s vulnerable self in front of others which will supposedly bring people together so they work as a better team. These are few such examples highlighting stress and social isolation. 

▪️This is a real thing causing negative impact on our lives. We are on the verge of a impending pandemic of mental health issues, plaguing individuals of all age groups. This has also become one of the driving factors behind heart attacks and sudden deaths in the young individuals.

▪️Many people have a shallow perception of the notion "Working for a better life." They feel it's okay to sacrifice their relationships and free time in the race for a better life. They assume once they retire, they would relax without any stress. In the current era, there's no guarantee for life. So it's more important to live the moment and ensure that our quality of life is better than the quantity. 

▪️As per WHO, even mental and social health are equally important. It's good many people these days are working on their diet, lifestyle and incorporating physical activity but aren't focusing much on mental & social health.

▪️Social health very much impacts mental health and physical health. So it's important to be a social being rather than being social. It's essential to spend time with family & friends. It's necessary to go for an outing once in a while.

"Let's approach the concept of health in a holistic manner."

- Written by Dr. Manikanth Vivek