6 Ways Being a Better Neighbor Can Reduce Stress

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsAim to Socialize With Neighbors More OftenExtend Help to Your NeighborsBuild a Sense of Security With Your NeighborsKeep Your Home Looking Nice (Within Your Budget)Make Yourself More AvailableOffer to Be a Listening Ear

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Aim to Socialize With Neighbors More Often

Extend Help to Your Neighbors

Build a Sense of Security With Your Neighbors

Keep Your Home Looking Nice (Within Your Budget)

Make Yourself More Available

Offer to Be a Listening Ear

Ourenvironments often have an impact on how we feel—this includes our neighborhoods. If you’re living in a loud area or living next to neighbors who haven’t been that nice to you, your mental health can take a hit.

So, it’s worth it to examine your neighborhood surroundings to figure out what aspect of it is causing you stress. While you may not have much control over the noise in your neighborhood, you can work to better your relationships with your neighbors.

At a GlanceOur neighborhoods can contribute to our overall well-being. If you’re living in an area or near people that aren’t so healthy for you, you can easily become stressed.Fortunately, we do have some control over our relationships with others so creating good relationships with your neighbors is a good place to start.

At a Glance

Our neighborhoods can contribute to our overall well-being. If you’re living in an area or near people that aren’t so healthy for you, you can easily become stressed.Fortunately, we do have some control over our relationships with others so creating good relationships with your neighbors is a good place to start.

Our neighborhoods can contribute to our overall well-being. If you’re living in an area or near people that aren’t so healthy for you, you can easily become stressed.

Fortunately, we do have some control over our relationships with others so creating good relationships with your neighbors is a good place to start.

We know—this sounds like a nightmare to homebodies and hermits but it’s worthstepping out of your comfort zoneand at least saying “hi” once in a while. You can even start with just a wave.

Considering many people are busy or dealing with their own life stuff, we may not get to link up with friends and family as often as we’d like to. So, stopping for a quick chat with a neighbor next door is a good way to get your social juices flowing.

Keeping our community connections is healthy for our overall well-being too. During stressful situations, oursocial support systemscan protect us from the emotional and mental consequences of stress.

How to Be More Outgoing

Some people love to cook and other people may enjoy planting flowers. If you love to cook or bake, maybe bring some fresh-baked cookies over to your neighbor who has a sweet tooth. If you see your neighbor working in their garden, offer to help them plant a few flowers especially if you’ve been blessed with a green thumb.

Maybe a neighbor’s car broke down and they need a ride to work, you can offer to drop them off at the mechanic when their car is ready.

There are so many ways we can help out our neighbors and receive help in return. So, learn more about your neighbors over time and see what they might need help with.

It’s always good to know that other people are looking out for you. Let’s say it’s super late at night and your neighbor calls to let you know that they saw someone near your home. You then have time tocall the policeand do something about a possible intruder.

Cultivating healthy relationships with neighbors can give us asense of security. Security makes us feel safe. When we feel safe, it allows ournervous systemsto function properly which, in turn, supports our physical health.

We’ve all been around neighbors who don’t care for their homes very well and it’s a total eyesore. Now, while upkeeping a home can get expensive for some people, something simple like cutting the grass can do wonders for your yard.

Well-kept homes are more inviting and will only serve to foster better connections with neighbors as they may feel more inclined to visit if your home looks welcoming enough.

7 Tips for Staying Motivated to Clean Your House When You Are Depressed

If you’re comfortable going for jogs orwalking your dogin our neighborhood, there’s a chance you’ll run into neighbors quite often so use those runs-in to strike up some small talk.

While not everyone will return the friendliness immediately, it’s a quick way to get to know people and build relationships, even if you’ve lived close for years and haven’t really said much to one another.

Painful and tragic events happen to everyone at some point in their life—you and your neighbors are not immune from this.

Let’s say you find out that your neighbor’s mother passed away. After giving some time to grieve, you may visit and offer your condolences in person. Maybe you’ll offer to help them with some chores if they’ve wallowing in their grief and are unable to get out of bed.

Always Ask What Kind of Support Someone NeedsYou can ask what kind of support they need and they might just want to vent to you. If that’s the case, then simply listen to them and showempathy.

Always Ask What Kind of Support Someone Needs

You can ask what kind of support they need and they might just want to vent to you. If that’s the case, then simply listen to them and showempathy.

When you go through astressful eventlike getting laid off or going through abreakup, your neighbor will likely be there for you in the same way you were for them. Knowing that someone has your back and will listen to you without judgment is sure to alleviate your stress during hard times.

How Social Support Contributes to Psychological Health

2 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Li F, Luo S, Mu W, et al.Effects of sources of social support and resilience on the mental health of different age groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC Psychiatry. 2021;21(1):16. Published 2021 Jan 7. doi:10.1186/s12888-020-03012-1Porges SW.Polyvagal Theory: A Science of Safety.Front Integr Neurosci. 2022;16:871227. Published 2022 May 10. doi:10.3389/fnint.2022.871227

2 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Li F, Luo S, Mu W, et al.Effects of sources of social support and resilience on the mental health of different age groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC Psychiatry. 2021;21(1):16. Published 2021 Jan 7. doi:10.1186/s12888-020-03012-1Porges SW.Polyvagal Theory: A Science of Safety.Front Integr Neurosci. 2022;16:871227. Published 2022 May 10. doi:10.3389/fnint.2022.871227

Li F, Luo S, Mu W, et al.Effects of sources of social support and resilience on the mental health of different age groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC Psychiatry. 2021;21(1):16. Published 2021 Jan 7. doi:10.1186/s12888-020-03012-1Porges SW.Polyvagal Theory: A Science of Safety.Front Integr Neurosci. 2022;16:871227. Published 2022 May 10. doi:10.3389/fnint.2022.871227

Porges SW.Polyvagal Theory: A Science of Safety.Front Integr Neurosci. 2022;16:871227. Published 2022 May 10. doi:10.3389/fnint.2022.871227

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At a Glance#

Always Ask What Kind of Support Someone Needs#

At a Glance

Always Ask What Kind of Support Someone Needs