The Role of Perceived Social Support in Building Resilience Among Individuals with Chronic Illnesses: Impacts on Emotional Well-Being and Coping with Disease-Related Stress

Abstract

Chronic illnesses pose significant physical, emotional, and psychological challenges, requiring effective coping mechanisms to enhance patients' quality of life. Our research measures how social support systems help patients with long-term medical conditions build resilience and emotional stability as they manage their illness. We recruited 200 participants equally distributed among four chronic health condition groups from hospitals throughout Peshawar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The research team measured how social support perception interacts with resilience and emotional health using established evaluation scales. Study results show perceived social support directly increases participants' mental strength and their emotional health. People with mental health disorders showed weaker social networks and resilience than all other groups. Results point to the urgent requirement for personalized support programs that help build better social networks for people who need protection the most. Our research improves knowledge about resilience by showing how people and their surroundings shape it while delivering useful knowledge for those who run healthcare services and make healthcare decisions.