Laura Joosse – 2741738 Master Health Sciences - Health Psychology
Paper. Social Support and Coping: theoretical description explained using a
patient’s experience
Introduction of the patient
‘’ In 2010, my symptoms started with abdominal pain and cramping in my belly, I experienced the
inability to defecate despite urgency. Because of these complaints I contacted the doctor, who prescribed
me laxatives. These were effective, so effective that I had diarrhea for two weeks as a result. Fortunately,
my doctor was alert and had my stool examined in the lab. That examination showed that there was no
virus, but that my entire large intestine was slightly inflamed. This starting point in 2010 set in motion a
two-year period where I experienced a lot of trial and error using different types of medicines. What lead
to periods of feeling well and energized, alternating with periods of inflammations in my digestive tract.
After two years of searching and going up and down my gastro-enterologist diagnosed me with
Ulcerative colitis (UC). Right now, 10 years after my diagnose my life knows a lot of up’s and down’s
depending on the inflammations and I re-organise my way of life depending on my energy level’’ . This is
the story of Ineke, a 55 years old woman who is married and mother of two adult children. She takes us
through the period in which her complaints started, the moment she received her diagnosis and how
she currently lives with UC. In this paper the story of Ineke and the theoretical overview of social
support and coping will be combined, with the aim to get a reflection on the theory by putting the
experience of Ineke central.
A theoretical overview and application of the Social Support Theory to Ineke
The most vital of all protective psychosocial resources is Social Support. They mute the effect of stress
and they reduce the likelihood that stress will lead to poor health. People with social support experience
less stress when they confront a stressful experience, cope with it more successfully (Taylor, 2018), and
even experience positive life events more positively (Gable et al., 2012). Social support is a complex area
to understand in the context of disease. There are two main conceptualizations of social support:
received social support and perceived availability of social support (Taylor, 2018).
The former, received social support, can be thought of as the supportive behaviors that an
individual gets from others (Swarup et al., 2017). Received social support can be separated into specific
types of support: informational support, emotional support, appraisal and tangible support (Langford et
al., 1997).
, Laura Joosse – 2741738 Master Health Sciences - Health Psychology
The latter, perceived availability of social support, is an individual’s perception that social
support is available if needed (Langford et al., 1997). As with received support, perceived availability of
social support may also be separated into the specific types of informational, emotional, appraisal and
tangible perceived availability of social support.
Informational support is defined as information provided to another during a time of stress
(House, 1981). Ineke got informational support from the Dutch Maag Lever Darm Foundation (MLD-
foundation) (Maag Lever Darm Stichting, n.d). On their website (Crohn & Colitis NL), meetings,
symposia’s and private Facebook group she figured out a lot of information about UC, think of lifestyle
advices and more evidence-based information about the causes of UC. They helped her noticing the
pattern of flare-ups (when symptoms are worse) and making the remission period (when symptoms are
little) as long as possible by medication monitoring.
Emotional support includes providing care, empathy, love and trust (Langford et al., 1997). The
study by House (1981) report that emotional support is the most important kind of social support. An
example of emotional support that Ineke received was from other fellow sufferers she met within MLD-
foundation. She was told it was helpful to talk with people who went through the same events and
struggles of having UC. This way she also had the feeling of being helpful to others by facilitating talking
groups around dealing with UC. Besides the emotional support of the MLD-foundation, she also shares
that her husband goes with her during Symposia about UC. This gives her the feeling of being supported
because they can talk about what she is going through. Both examples refer to actual received support,
the help provided within a given time period (Langford et al., 1997).
In contrast, some relationships with friends got damaged or even vanished because these
friends did not understand where Ineke was going through. They did not express empathy for the way
she was feeling as she might have expected before she got UC. A quote she mentioned was: ‘’When I
told my friend about my stomach problems. She told me that sometimes she also suffers from stomach
complaints." So, her friends might not have provided the emotional support that she might have
perceived beforehand. This refers to perceived available support, which means the anticipated, or
expected, help in time of need (Song, 2021).
She also mentioned that her first Stomach Liver Intestine-doctor (in Dutch: Maag Darm Lever-
arts) often provided unsolicited care, which was not helpful. A quote from Ineke about this is: “She did
not answer my calls and she was not empathetic when I mention my symptoms.’’ This refers to harmful
social support. Research by Hupcey (2002) showed that social support can be also harmful when provide
incomplete or detrimental ‘‘support’’ and may cause further stress.
