Feeling disconnected? A meal with family or friends can help, researcher says

A new poll from High Point University finds that most North Carolinians enjoy good mental health. For those who don’t, help may be as close as the kitchen table.

About 60% of the mental health poll’s respondents said they eat meals with family or friends more than once a week.

That figure was gratifying to Kirsten Li-Barber, associate professor and chair of the Department of Psychology at High Point University. She says sharing meals is emotionally good for you.

“Being able to have that hour or so to connect,” she says. “To sit down, to do nothing more, to just focus on each other and hopefully focus on really good food, seems to be a really great context in which people can actually share ideas and feel connected with others.”

Li-Barber says that together time probably doesn’t work as well when people bring their devices to the table. People are likely to feel less engaged.

The poll also found that respondents had a low awareness of the 988 suicide and crisis hotline. Just 25% said they had heard of the service, which since 2022 has been a resource for people in mental health crises.