For last month’s blog, I wrote about the role friendships play in our overall mental health. Staying on that same topic of social systems that affect our mental health, there is another system that can have a profound impact on our overall psychological and emotional wellbeing. This social system would be the family. Within the walls of our home, thoughts and emotions are either nurtured or neglected. Our family experiences help lay the blueprint for the ways in which we cope with challenges throughout our lives. This is not to say that this blueprint is fixed or definite. Humans are ever-changing, and we have the capacity to evolve our habits over time. While reading this blog, I invite readers to reflect on their own experiences with their families and the impact that these experiences have had on them, both good and bad.
The Family as a Support System
It is important to note here that family does not have to include only individuals with whom you share the same blood. A family can take many different forms. The role of family in promoting mental wellness cannot be overstated. Our families are often the first influential environment in our lives where our mental health is cultivated. One factor that significantly impacts our mental health is familial support.
Whether you are a child, teenager, or grown adult, the feeling of overall support from your family members can positively impact your mental health. Ideally, this support begins in infancy. Your mother, father, or caregiver provides you with support in the context of making sure your physical needs are met (feeding, changing, affection). As you grow older into a more capable person, your family members continue to help support you with many physical needs but also begin providing you with emotional support. This emotional support can look like helping you navigate conflict with others, helping you understand and regulate your emotional states, and helping you learn effective communication skills.
As I mentioned earlier, these early family experiences help in laying the blueprint for the ways in which we cope with challenges throughout our lives. Many individuals who lacked attentive family members to provide them with support as children struggle with some of these same concepts as adults. On the flip side, children who had familial support throughout the different stages of their infancy and adolescence are more likely to develop healthy communication skills and emotional regulation skills and be more confident in themselves overall as adults.
This does not mean that an individual who did not have adequate familial support growing up will always develop into an adult who struggles with these issues. In fact, many adults who were raised in such families make an intention to create their own families in which these concepts are fully present. This can be an extremely healthy and corrective experience for a person.
Siblings & Mental Health
Siblings can also be important sources of love, support, and companionship throughout a person’s life. Oftentimes, siblings are the people with whom you will share the most years, a person’s longest-lasting relationship(s). Siblings can understand you in ways that sometimes others can’t. Siblings can influence a person’s mental health from childhood well into adulthood. Warm sibling relationships, those with more affection and friendship, are a great source of emotional support. These relationships do wonders in protecting against loneliness and depression. Strenuous sibling relationships, on the other hand, can add stress to a person’s life and contribute to feelings of isolation. Sibling relationships can also be complicated and are not always clear-cut.
In some cases, a person may feel a fierce reciprocated loyalty towards a sibling with whom they often experience conflict. Despite the complexity of these relationships, having a sibling who continues to remain in your life and support you can have a positive effect on your overall emotional and psychological health. Sibling relationships naturally change over a person’s lifetime, and life transitions can provide siblings with opportunities to reevaluate, amend, or even break off relationships. If you feel like a relationship with a sibling is negatively impacting your mental health, this is a great topic to explore with a therapist. Therapy can help individuals navigate complicated family dynamics.
Strategies for Building a Healthy Family Environment
You may have grown up in a family where your mental and/or physical health was neglected, but you know that you want something different for your own children. What are ways in which you can nurture your own children’s mental health as they age? Building a healthy family environment that fosters positive mental health involves intentional efforts and effective strategies. First and foremost, open communication lays the foundation for understanding and empathy. Encouraging family members to express their thoughts and feelings freely creates a supportive atmosphere where emotional wellbeing can thrive. Establishing and maintaining clear boundaries is crucial, as it helps each individual maintain a sense of autonomy while feeling secure within the family unit.
Prioritizing quality time together, whether through shared activities, meals, or conversations, strengthens family bonds and reinforces a sense of belonging. Cultivating a culture of respect and validation, where each family member’s perspective is acknowledged and valued, contributes to a positive emotional climate. Additionally, promoting a healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise, sufficient sleep, and nutritious meals, enhances not only physical health but also mental wellbeing. Lastly, recognizing and addressing conflicts constructively, perhaps through family therapy or open discussions, allows the family to navigate challenges together, promoting resilience and ensuring a nurturing environment for everyone’s mental health.
If you would like to schedule an appointment with me or any of our other wonderful therapists at Heartland Therapy Connection, reach out to us at (816) 287-0252 or visit our website to request an appointment.
