A study involving an Indian-origin researcher suggests that social support provided to older adults by family and friends may not have an entirely positive effect on their mental health but is instead a mixed blessing . Assistant professor Rahul Malhotra and Shannon Ang from Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore found that receipt of social support reduced depressive symptoms among older individuals but at the same time made them feel like they had lost control over their lives. The right kind of social groups can help ease depression. The study published recently in the journal Social Science and Medicine linked
