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Social support is an important health‐related and communicative process, including verbal and nonverbal behaviors intended to assist another person perceived as needing aid. The five types of social support can be divided into two categories: nurturant support (containing emotional, network, and esteem support) and action‐facilitating support (containing informational and tangible support). Each type of support is more or less effective in different situations, so providing optimal support requires paying attention to the situation and the specific needs of the support recipient, requiring support providers to offer one or more specific kinds of support depending on the situation. Social support is connected to various health outcomes, including stress, mental health, and physical health. Support can directly impact stress reactions and overall health, but it can also indirectly protect individuals from stress by buffering against its negative effects. Similarly, social support can impact a person's psychological and physical well‐being in generally positive ways while also helping them more effectively cope with negative events and engage in beneficial health‐related behaviors. Overall, social support has various beneficial outcomes on an individual's health, but the type of support and the way the support is communicated greatly impact those outcomes.