How Partner Support Contributes to Emotional Well-Being and Psychological Resilience During Periods of Transition?
Emotional well-being refers to an individual's ability to cope with stressors and maintain a positive outlook on life despite experiencing challenges or setbacks. It involves having a sense of self-worth, optimism, resiliency, hopefulness, satisfaction, and fulfillment in one's daily life. On the other hand, psychological resilience is the capacity to bounce back from adversities without being permanently damaged or dysfunctional. Research has shown that partner support plays a crucial role in promoting emotional well-being and psychological resilience during periods of transition such as job changes, relocations, bereavement, illness, or divorce. This article will examine how partners can contribute to each other's mental health during these times of uncertainty and stress.
During periods of transition, partners may feel anxious, stressed, depressed, worried, frustrated, hopeless, helpless, isolated, or lonely. These negative feelings could lead to detrimental effects on their physical and mental health, including insomnia, fatigue, headaches, nausea, loss of appetite, irritability, mood swings, low motivation, decreased performance at work, and increased risk for substance abuse, anxiety, and depression.
Research suggests that partner support can alleviate this negativity and promote emotional well-being and psychological resilience by reducing stress hormones like cortisol, oxytocin, adrenaline, and noradrenaline levels. Partners who provide empathetic listening, encouragement, validation, and practical help can enable individuals to process their thoughts and feelings more effectively and develop adaptive coping strategies.
Supportive behaviors include sharing the burden of tasks related to the transition, providing information about the situation, helping with problem-solving, offering emotional support, providing social support, ensuring safety and security, enhancing self-efficacy, facilitating communication, promoting optimism, creating a positive environment, and fostering meaningful conversations.
If one partner has lost a job, the other can encourage them to explore new opportunities, assist in finding resources, share financial responsibilities, keep track of important dates and deadlines, and organize family events to boost morale. Similarly, during bereavement, partners can listen attentively to each other's grief and validate feelings without being judgmental or dismissive. They may also suggest activities that bring joy and purpose, such as volunteering or traveling.
In addition to receiving support from partners, individuals can improve their own mental health by practicing self-care practices such as exercise, meditation, mindfulness, relaxation techniques, healthy eating, sleep hygiene, and seeking professional help when needed. These practices can reduce stress, increase energy levels, promote positivity, and enhance mood. By combining external and internal support systems, individuals can build resilience and recover from adverse life events quickly.
Partner support is essential for promoting emotional well-being and psychological resilience during periods of transition. Partners should provide empathetic listening, encouragement, practical help, and emotional validation while engaging in regular self-care practices.
How does partner support contribute to emotional well-being and psychological resilience during periods of transition?
Partner support plays an essential role in promoting emotional well-being and psychological resilience during transitions. Studies have shown that having a reliable and emotionally supportive partner can help individuals cope with stress and adapt to changes more effectively (Ayers et al. , 2017).