Connection

Felicia states: Research shows that the power of connection is important to our well-being. Hello, my name is Felicia, and with me today are Keith and Rosalie. We are public health nurses from Durham Region Health Department, and we will be talking to you today about connections and why connection is important to your mental health.

Rosalie replies: Thanks Felicia for having us. Connection is an important topic. Having meaningful relationships in your life supports your mental health and being connected to others supports your happiness and your ability to overcome life’s obstacles.

Keith shares: And it’s really important that we have connections and feel that sense of belonging in our community. There are things that we can all do to gain that sense of belonging and connection to others, connection to ourselves, and connection to the broader community at large too.

Felicia states: So we know that the past few years have contributed to loneliness for many. Can you tell me more about loneliness and isolation?

Keith replies: Loneliness is an experience that’s unique to each person, and it really has to do with the number of meaningful connections a person has in their life to help them feel that sense of connection and belonging. For each person, the number of people they need to feel that sense of belonging to, is different. Some people may feel a connection with one meaningful person in their life and that’s enough. Whereas others might need multiple people that they feel a really deep connection to, to feel good about themselves. We can start to experience loneliness sometimes in situations where maybe you have lots of contacts on social media or people in your lives but you don’t have a meaningful connection to any of them, and that can feel like loneliness. So it’s unique to each person.

Rosalie shares: I think that’s a really good point. Feeling that lack of connection can lead to social isolation and that can be physical or virtually. Because it is so unique, when we’re looking at loneliness it is unique to each individual, so each individual will need different things to combat those feelings of loneliness. When you’re feeling, feelings of loneliness, this could be due to a variety of reasons. It could be something as simple as where you live, and this can really impact your mental health.

Felicia asks: Would you then say that loneliness is a common experience for many?

Keith replies: It can be. There’s certain times in our lives too where we’re all going to experience loneliness. Particularly if you’re moving to a new town, like you’re just new to Durham Region, and even if you’re new to the country even, these can be really significant times where you might experience loneliness. But also, times in our life, transitions like having a baby, or retiring from your job, or maybe you’re experiencing a decline in your physical abilities as well. These are moments in our life when we’re likely going to experience some loneliness. But if you’re experiencing loneliness on a daily, regular basis, and it’s starting to become chronic, it’s time to take action.

Rosalie shares: And that’s a good point. Taking action, looking at your ability to connect with others to support your mental health, and how that can benefit you in your life.

Felicia states: So we all know that connections can take many forms. So connection to self, connection to others, and connection to the community. How then would you recommend that we start to improve our connections?

Rosalie replies: That’s a really good question. When you're looking at connection, like you had said, there's a variety of ways that people can connect in their life. When you're looking at connecting with yourself, you can connect through mindfulness, the practice of mindfulness. That's really living in that present moment without judgment and feeling that sense of self and that sense of connection. When you're looking at connecting with others, you know, you want to look at your readiness and your ability to connect. And when you feel that readiness to connect, you can start with something as simple as maybe lunch with a colleague or, you know, a walk in the woods with your family or chosen family and being present in that moment. You could look at joining a club or a sport, you know, to gather with people with a shared interest. And another thing, just with connecting with others, it's important to mention that, you know, if you're not physically able to connect with others, you can virtually connect with someone and weave that into your week or weave that into your day to make sure that you're connecting with those people in your life who really matter to you.

Keith shares: And that’s great, it’s really important. And I think too, we can even look at connecting to the broader community and, you know, how can I engage with my community, to make connections and gain that sense of belonging in my broader community. Some great ideas could be things like, giving back and getting involved. Maybe volunteering at your local food bank. It could be things like getting involved with your, you know, cultural group or faith-based group. Finding opportunities to connect, maybe organized sports at your rec. centre, things like that. Opportunities to get involved in something broader, where you make connections on a shared interest, and you can feel like you’re giving back. That can be really fulfilling and help get you that sense of belonging, you feel valued and heard too.

Rosalie Shares: Community connections can give you that bigger sense of belonging, and really at the end of the day it feels good to connect with people that matter to you. It feels good to have connections in your life that matter.

Felicia states: And this brings us to the end of our conversation for today.  Thank you to Keith and Rosalie for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us today about the importance of connection to self, to others, and the community. Please go to our website durham.ca/Connection to get more inspiration, and you can also like or share this video to help others learn how to get connected as well. Thank you.