Your Friends and Family Could Be Hurting Your Health

We all have friends, family members, and people we associate with at work who have some unhealthy habits. Unfortunately, some of those habits can rub off on you. Without you even knowing it, someone is damaging your health simply by you being around them. It’s almost as if you’re guilty by association. This article will show some common ways that friends and family could be hurting your health and ways you can prevent yourself from falling into the trap.

It’s Not Just Your Friends and Family That Could Be Hurting Your Health

While social ties and relationships generally have positive effects on health, there are situations where social connections can potentially have negative impacts. Here are some ways in which social ties might contribute to hurting your health:

1. Stress and Conflict:
   • Interpersonal Conflicts: Frequent conflicts within relationships, whether with family, friends, or colleagues, can contribute to chronic stress, which is linked to various health problems.
   • Negative Relationships: Being in toxic or abusive relationships can have severe detrimental effects on mental and physical health.
2. Social Pressure:
   • Peer Pressure: Conforming to unhealthy behaviors due to social pressure, such as smoking, excessive drinking, or engaging in risky activities, can negatively impact health.
   • Societal Expectations: Pressure to conform to societal expectations or norms may lead to stress and anxiety.
3. Isolation and Loneliness:
   • Social Isolation: Lack of meaningful social connections or feelings of loneliness can contribute to mental health issues like depression and anxiety.
   • Physical Health Impact: Chronic loneliness has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, compromised immune function, and other health problems.
4. Unhealthy Lifestyle Choices:
   • Influence of Social Circles: People often adopt the habits and behaviors of those around them. If a social group engages in unhealthy behaviors like poor diet and lack of exercise, it can influence individual health choices.
5. Support System Dynamics:
   • Lack of Support: In some cases, social ties may not provide the needed support during challenging times, leading to increased stress and a lack of coping mechanisms.
   • Dependency: Overreliance on others for emotional or financial support without developing personal resilience can negatively impact mental health.
6. Social Comparison:
   • Comparison Stress: Constantly comparing oneself to others, especially in the age of social media, can lead to stress, anxiety, and feelings of inadequacy.

It’s important to note that the impact of social ties on health is complex, and individual experiences vary widely. Positive social connections generally have a protective effect on health, providing emotional support, companionship, and a sense of belonging. However, it’s crucial to be aware of and address negative aspects of relationships that may contribute to hurting your health. Seeking professional help or talking to trusted individuals can be beneficial in managing such challenges.

Can Social Media Cause Issues?

Yes, social media can have both positive and negative effects on mental and physical health. While social media platforms offer opportunities for connection, information sharing, and community building, there are also potential downsides that can impact well-being. Here are some ways in which social media can potentially harm health:

1. Comparison and Self-Esteem:
   • Social Comparison: Constant exposure to curated, idealized versions of others’ lives on social media can lead to unhealthy social comparison, fostering feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem.
   • Negative Body Image: The prevalence of edited or filtered images can contribute to unrealistic beauty standards, negatively impacting body image and self-worth.
2. Cyberbullying and Harassment:
   • Online Bullying: Social media platforms can be venues for cyberbullying and harassment, leading to stress, anxiety, and, in severe cases, mental health issues.
   • Social Exclusion: The fear of missing out (FOMO) and experiences of social exclusion on social media can contribute to feelings of loneliness and depression.
3. Addiction and Distraction:
   • Social Media Addiction: Excessive use of social media, often driven by features designed to keep users engaged, can lead to addiction and negatively impact mental health.
   • Reduced Productivity: Spending too much time on social media may lead to decreased productivity and interfere with daily responsibilities.
4. Impact on Sleep:
   • Blue Light Exposure: The use of electronic devices, including those for social media, before bedtime can interfere with sleep patterns due to exposure to blue light, potentially leading to sleep disorders.
5. Misinformation and Anxiety:
   • Spread of Misinformation: Social media can be a source of misinformation, contributing to the spread of false or misleading health information, which may cause anxiety and confusion.
   • Information Overload: Constant exposure to news and information on social media can contribute to information overload and heightened stress levels.
6. Privacy Concerns:
   • Data Privacy Issues: Concerns about data privacy and the potential misuse of personal information on social media platforms can contribute to stress and anxiety.
7. Sedentary Lifestyle:
   • Reduced Physical Activity: Excessive time spent on social media may contribute to a sedentary lifestyle, which is associated with various health risks, including obesity and cardiovascular problems.

It’s important for individuals to be mindful of their social media usage, set healthy boundaries, and prioritize well-being. Engaging in positive online communities, practicing digital detoxes, and being selective about the content consumed can help mitigate potential negative impacts.

Ways Your Friends Could Be Hurting Your Health

Below are some of the main ways that your friends and family could be hurting your health:

1. Stress is hurting your health

Life has a way of supplying us with an endless amount of stress. It’s not like we need our friends or family adding to our already stressful lives, yet that seems to happen on a daily basis and can actually be hurting your health. Let’s use an example of someone you know dealing with something extremely stressful. Maybe they got some bad news from a doctor, or their home life isn’t the best, or maybe it’s your associate and they are getting bogged down with work and their boss is constantly on them. Seeing someone else stressed can almost have an osmotic effect on you. The next thing you know, your heart rate is increased, you’re becoming flustered, your blood pressure rises, your blood sugar levels increase, and you feel your muscles starting to get tight.

All of this added stress is going to take a toll on you and could be hurting your health. As you become stressed out over something (or for no apparent reason, simply because someone you know is stressed), your body releases the stress hormone, cortisol. Having high levels of cortisol in the body can lead to a compromised immune system which in turn can lead to an illness. You will find your energy levels suffering and your mood heading south.

So, how can you combat stress so you don’t shoot cortisol levels through the roof and wind up sick? It’s quite simple, work on your breathing. Take time to sit somewhere quietly and focus on each breath. Doing this will help calm your nerves, take your mind off of the stress you are feeling, and put you in a state of relaxation. If you live in a high stress environment whether at work or at home, take time each day to focus on your breathing or meditation. Through doing this for yourself, you can mitigate the stress response being put on you that could be hurting your health.

2. Diabetes

Now, many of you might be thinking, “how can a friend or family member give me diabetes?”—well, hear me out. We surround ourselves with people of influence in our lives, right? So, generally we have similar mannerisms and lifestyles. It has been said that you are what you eat. Well, now you basically are also what your spouse or friend eats. Similar behaviors can result in similar outcomes. If your spouse eats junk food, cakes, fried foods, and other unhealthy options, more than likely you are probably also indulging in such items and it could be hurting your health. It’s said that if your significant other gets Type 2 diabetes, you increase your chance of becoming diabetic as well by around 26%.

If you want to ensure you stay healthy, you also need to create an environment around you that is cohesive to maintaining a healthy lifestyle—this means having your spouse and friends you associate with on the same page. Exercising with your significant other or friends is a great way to build a team environment where everyone is on the same journey. You don’t have one person eating an entire pizza while the other has a salad in front of them. Prepare healthy meals at home and partake in activities that promote health such as going for walks or runs with family and friends. Try to eliminate bad choices and environments. Enjoying yourself at the bar with your significant other or buddies ordering round after round of drinks and wings is not a good decision—for either of you.

3. Hangovers are hurting your health

Misery loves company and together they can drastically be hurting your health. When your buddy is in a bad mood, they might need a shoulder to lean on with a few cold ones. You hit up the bar and order round after round. Before you know it you’ve completely lost count of how many drinks you’ve had and you’re definitely drunk. Just because you lost count of all those drinks doesn’t mean the calories don’t count. So, not only are you probably way over your calories for the day, but your buddy’s stress is now affecting your stress levels, not to mention you wake up the next morning hungover from consuming too much alcohol. There is no win in this situation, only a ton of losses that can be hurting your health.

Find something constructive to do if your buddy is going through a tough time. Go for a hike in the woods, head to the gym and throw the weights around a little to get rid of some frustration. There is no good that comes from hanging out at a bar drinking all night to forget about your problems and everything that is stressing you out. When you sober up, all of those problems will still be there. In fact, the same side effects that applied above in #1, also apply here. Fix the underlying problems so they aren’t hurting your health in the long run.

Click here to continue reading…

---