Author: Ushna Nawaz
Each individual has basic needs and wishes which they want to fulfil to
make their lives healthy, wealthy, and pleasant. But, when one’s desires or
needs exceed from a certain level, it causes a problem that turns a healthy
life into obnoxious life. Some examples can help us to understand this concept,
such as excess of food can cause obesity, excess of stress can cause damage to
brain and its functioning, excess of tension and worry can lead towards some
mental disorder, excessive consumption of drugs, alcohol or smoking can damage
body organs, excess amount of sleep can enhance the health risk, excessive
exposure to screen can cause overweight, sleep problems or pain of body parts
(i.e., headaches, neck, and shoulder pain), and being good all the time can
also cause a lot of problems in your own life.
Even though having a lot of
power and health also lead towards negative consequences as there is a mythical
story which says that; In the same manner, each individual needs social support to live in a
community. As we all know that man is a social animal, so society has a great
impact on men, society can affect individuals either positively or negatively.
Social support is the psychological and material support people get from
others. The three basic supports are support from family, support from friends,
and support from others.
The social support helps individuals to cope with
various life situations and enhances their wellbeing. But when this social
support elevates from a certain level, it can also bring problematic
consequences as there is a Bollywood movie with the name “
In 2019, Palant and Himmel conducted qualitative research to watch over
the negative effects of social support. In this study, 42 patients with
inflammatory bowel disease were included. The result of this study revealed
that social support is perceived to have a positive effect, but sometimes, it
can also affect negatively (Palant, & Himmel, 2019). A real-life example can also be taken through this case history.
Case History
The client was a ten years old boy. He had a normal birth. His mother
had no physical and mental illness at the time of delivery. At the time of
birth, the child didn't show any abnormal symptoms. After birth, he exhibited
normal reflexes and had no sensational issue. After 10 to 15 days of his birth,
his parents started noticing that his colour turned to blue, become thin and
had wrinkles on his body. At that time, his family didn't consult with any
doctor but moved towards spiritual treatment.
His developmental milestones were
delayed. He had a one-word speech at the age of 2 years. Then, his family
consulted the doctor; he recommended allopathic and psychotic medicine. He felt
fear from adults other than his family members. He did not use pamper at all.
He avoided to use the toilet and defecated alone in his room behind the door.
He did not use the toilet because of his shyness and his first bad experience
of sitting on the hot toilet seat. Once he went to a wedding, there he did not
use the toilet for five days, and after coming home, he defecated behind the
door of his room.
He had no strong social circle. He felt hesitation about
going out of his home because other children called him
The client had a supportive and over-protective family. He was dependent
on his family for his daily tasks. His family pampered him a lot. He did not
get scolded from elders. He had a loving relationship with his siblings and
parents. He had jolly fights with his siblings. He was stubborn with his family
members.
The client got admission to a private school at the age of 6 or 7 years.
After some duration, his family changed his school and sent him to a government
school. He didn't make friends in school. He was an obedient student and
co-operative with his teachers. He avoided going to school when teachers showed
strictness towards him. He was a below-average student. In this case, the client was able to perform his routine tasks, but the
over protection provided by his family was not letting him do his routine
chores.
Not only overprotection can cause the problem, but sometimes being
criticized by others can also lead to unwanted consequences as you can see in
this case history that when the boy got negative comments from others living in
his neighbourhood, he avoided going outside and liked to stay in his
home.
Moreover, the appreciation and support should also be provided at the
right time, and on the right thing or situation; otherwise, this will not bring
any fruitful outcome. For example appreciating (by laughing) a child when he
abused the first time and not appreciating (by saying good words) a child when
he scored good marks in test or paper, as defined by Skinner in operant
conditioning (McLeod, 2015).