Six tips on building and maintaining healthy relationships

Strong personal relationships are essential for everyone’s overall well-being. Founded on trust, honesty, respect, and communication, these bonds keep us happy and thus, physically healthier. It lowers rates of anxiety and depression, strengthens the immune system, boosts self-esteem, and improves the quality of life.

The experts from the Benilde Well-Being Center of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) champions the significance of nurturing these social ties, from family and friends to members of the local community.

“However, it is not just about having any social connections. It is about the quality of these relationships that we build,” they explained. “Having strong, stable, and fulfilling relationships help alleviate feelings of loneliness and isolation, and eventually improve our mental health,” they added.

To guide the general public, the specialists shared the top tips from the Mental Health Foundation, a United Kingdom-based charity dedicated to researching, developing, and promoting new ways to protect good mental health.

Get to know yourself. Take time to appreciate yourself. Get in touch with your emotions. Regulate your feelings to express yourself clearly and more effectively. 

Put in the work. Healthy relationships are not found but built. It needs commitment and willingness to accommodate each other’s needs.

Set and respect boundaries. Let the people around you know where your boundaries are. For example, respecting your time alone takes the pressure off your relationship.

Talk and listen. All relationships have disagreements. That is okay. What matters is how you handle it. Listen to understand — not to respond. Do not be afraid to articulate your sentiments or vulnerabilities with those you trust.

Let go of control. A lot of life is about how we react to our encounters and experiences. Remember: you can only really control what you do — save your time and stress. 

Reflect and learn. If you have a healthy way of expressing your feelings, you can also react to other people’s emotions well. Anger often comes from a place of hurt. If you can recognize that, you can communicate it to establish better ties. Reflect on the qualities of relationships that work best in your life.