The Value of Community and Our Mental Health
More and more, I hear reports of loneliness from clients. They’re experiencing a lack of connection, struggling in social relationships, and feeling a sense of isolation. Interestingly, clients are also reporting fears about needing others, wanting to maintain emotional autonomy, and questioning the value of relationships and close connections.
So, what is the value in community, and do we need to prioritize it? Should we be addressing loneliness with teaching coping strategies and learning to be more independent? Or is there an importance in fostering more interpersonal connection and emotional and social support?
Individualism emphasizes independence, personal freedom, and self-reliance. These qualities can be beneficial, but we see problems emerge when independence becomes an expectation that people should manage stress, emotional difficulties, and major life challenges alone. Humans are social creatures. We’re designed to relate, rely, and connect with other humans and animals, and human well-being is dependent on relationships, belonging, and meaningful participation in a community (Haim-Litevsky et al., 2023).
Human motivation and personality theory helps explain the value of connection by defining psychological well-being being dependent on three basic needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Relatedness is the component that encompasses feeling cared for, valued, and connected with other people. As relatedness is tied to autonomy as a basic need, this emphasizes that maintaining healthy independence does not mean complete self-sufficiency. It indicates that to maintain healthy well-being, there is a need to sustain a sense of individuality while still relying on and being closely connected with family, friends, neighbors, and communities for emotional and practical support.
If we look at cultures where higher value is placed on individualism vs. collectivism, we see higher rates of loneliness (Barreto et al., 2021). This is a reflection of how when connection and community aren’t valued, social isolation is more persistent, and an individual’s loneliness becomes a noticeable factor in their mental health. Maintaining a support system and larger social networks can provide important protection for psychological well-being, and we see evidence of lower risks for depression (Santini et al., 2015). Community support offers opportunities for us to express and understand our emotions, have access to resources, gain perspective, and feel less isolated when coping with stressful experiences.
In addition to positive psychological impact, quality interpersonal connections can influence physical health. Increased connection and community engagement provide us with a sense of belonging, shared identity, purpose, and opportunities to feel valued AND we see an increase of life expectancy in those with stronger, quality social connections (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010; McNamara et al., 2021). In-fact, insufficient social connection is identified in the US as a significant public-health concern associated with poorer mental and physical health outcomes (Office of the Surgeon General, 2023).
Recognizing the importance of community on our mental health does not mean we should devalue individuality. Both autonomy and connection play a role in psychological well-being. That being said, in a world where disconnection and isolation are more prevalent and sustained through technology (Fuller-Rowell et al., 2025; Nowland et al., 2017), we need to recognize and prioritize the utility of connection and community for our mental health. It’s important to remember that our resilience is not built through hyper independence. Relationships and communities provide belonging, care, purpose, emotional and physical support, and feeling valued, and maintaining interpersonal connections is an essential foundation of psychological, emotional, and physical well-being. An interdependent life — maintaining personal freedom while giving and receiving support from others within a sustained community — is the goal.
Megan Powell, PhD is a licensed psychologist, owner, and a practicing provider at The Conscious Adapt in Austin, TX.
References
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110066
Fuller-Rowell, T.E., Sultana, S., & Kawachi, I. (2025). Global trends and disparities in social isolation. JAMA Network Open, 8(9), e2532008. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.32008
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Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., & Layton, J. B. (2010). Social relationships and mortality risk: A meta-analytic review. PLoS Medicine, 7(7), e1000316.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316
McNamara, N., Stevenson, C., Costa, S., Bowe, M., Wakefield, J., Këllezi, B., Wilson, I., Halder, M., & Mair, E. (2021). Community identification, social support, and loneliness: The benefits of social identification for personal well-being. British Journal of Social Psychology, 60(4), 1379–1402.
https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12456
Nowland, R., Necka, E.A., Cacioppo, J.T. (2017). Loneliness and social internet use: Pathways to reconnection in the digital world? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(1), 70-87. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617713052
Office of the Surgeon General. (2023). Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on the healing effects of social connection and community. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
Santini, Z. I., Koyanagi, A., Tyrovolas, S., Mason, C., & Haro, J. M. (2015). The association between social relationships and depression: A systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 175, 53–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2014.12.049