Think back to the last time you cooked a meal for a sick friend or helped a frazzled mum lift her pram off the bus. Remember how good it felt to be giving to someone without receiving anything in return? There’s a very good reason why helping others fast-tracks us to our happy place.
“Volunteering produces positive, life-affirming emotions,” explains Dr Tim Sharp, a positive psychologist and mental health advocate from the Happiness Institute. “Research consistently shows that genuinely happy people don’t just feel good, they also do good, and doing good contributes to feeling good. So, altruism (selfless acts) creates and maintains a positive cycle of happiness and satisfaction.”
Why are we hardwired to get such a boost from giving? It’s a throwback to the days when staying with the pack meant better survival odds and less risk of close encounters with sabre-toothed tigers. “So even in our modern age, when we’re connecting to, and assisting our ‘tribe’, we not only feel we belong, but we also feel safer,” Sharp explains.
Australians are no slouches when it comes to helping others. In 2014, 5.8 million people (31 per cent of Aussies) aged 15 years and over, put their hand up for voluntary work, according to the last General Social Survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics – a positive for the people they were helping and for their own wellbeing, too.
ALTRUISTIC BRAIN BUZZ
By mapping the brain via MRI scans, the University of Pittsburgh has shown that volunteering can encourage instant calm followed by a ‘helper’s high’. The research showed that when assisting others with maths tasks or trying to win money for those in need, people enjoy lower activity in the centre of the brain called the amygdala, which plays a key role in the processing of emotions.
Meanwhile, altruism, lights up the brain’s reward centres, triggering a hit of the feel-good chemical dopamine – the same hormone your body releases when you eat chocolate; compelling reasons why it’s a healthy route to happiness.
GIVING LIFE MORE MEANING
Have you reached a turning point where your kids are getting older and you’ve ticked off many life and career goals? Then you may have more time on your hands and a desire to create new goals and priorities for this life stage. “Volunteering is a very practical way of giving and living a more meaningful life,” says associate professor Thomas William Nielsen, a wellbeing education expert from the University of Canberra.
“It can help you fulfil your full potential as a human being and become the highest, healthiest, and most capable version of yourself.” In an age of selfies, Internet trolling, reality TV and me-centrism, this emotional anchoring may be more important than ever. “There’s evidence to suggest we’re becoming more narcissistic and self-focused and that these changes are contributing to people in society becoming less happy and developing more mental ill-health problems,” says Sharp. The trouble, according to Sharp is quite simply a misunderstanding about what brings happiness.
“Happiness is not about selfishness or hedonism,” he explains. “Real happiness is about meaning and purpose, connectedness and relationships, and experiences, not things. Volunteering takes us out of our own heads, and helps us realise that we can be and are, part of something bigger and better than just our individual selves.”
THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
Apart from the emotional buzz, volunteering has plenty of other health bonuses. “The benefits are backed up by research, which shows that giving to others and contributing to our community is one of the strongest predictors of increased happiness and health,” agrees Nielsen. Those benefits include the following:
LOWER DEPRESSION: Volunteering makes us feel appreciated and needed, which reduces depression, increases life satisfaction and enhances wellbeing, shows a review by the University of Exeter, that tracked nine trials and 16 studies. “Empty nest depression or midlife crisis – our lives need purpose and finding more meaning through doing for others is key to all stages of life,” Nielsen says. He believes that volunteering is a healthy way to counter the pressing challenges of modern life including loneliness, disconnection and the growing epidemic of depression and anxiety.
“In the future, I hope that doctors may prescribe volunteering more than they prescribe antidepressants,” Nielsen adds.
LONGER LIFE: For boosting longevity, giving is right up there with healthy habits like exercising and quitting smoking. The University of Exeter study found that people who volunteer – whether regularly serving food in soup kitchens or working in the school canteen – are 20 per cent less likely to die from any cause compared to people of the same age who don’t volunteer.
BUFFERING AGAINST STRESS: You don’t have to give big to reap the benefits. People who assist family members, friends, neighbours and workmates more often by running errands or helping out with shopping, transport, housework or child-minding, experience less negative impacts from stress, shows research published in the American Journal of Public Health.
PROTECTION AGAINST DEMENTIA: Volunteering increases social contact which in turn, boosts cognitive functioning, such as memory and concentration. Cambridge research shows that people who are more socially active as they age enjoy a 70 per cent reduction in cognitive decline.
BETTER GENERAL HEALTH: The health gains are the equivalent of being five years younger in age, shows research from Ghent University in Belgium.
LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE: People over 50 who volunteer for around 3.5 hours a week decrease their risk of high blood pressure by an impressive 40 per cent, shows research from Carnegie Melon University in the US. This in turn reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. A heartfelt reason to sign up at your favourite charity.
FEWER NIGHTS SPENT IN HOSPITAL: That’s the finding from Indiana University, which looked at the impacts of altruism in people aged 50+.
IMPROVED PHYSICAL FITNESS: Volunteering can help give greater meaning to your life. And recent Harvard research shows that people who feel they have a life purpose perform better on tests of grip strength and walking speed, indicating they are in better physical shape as they age. This may also be because volunteers are generally more active, both mentally and physically.
A BIG BOOST IN LIFE SATISFACTION: This can kick in very quickly when you start volunteering. In one study published in the Journal of Social Psychology, UK researchers found that after just 10 days of engaging in daily acts of kindness, people felt more satisfied with their lives.
MORE HAPPINESS AT WORK: When you’re a more giving work colleague you enjoy greater camaraderie, job satisfaction and commitment and are also less likely to quit your job, shows research from the University of Wisconsin Madison in the US. Some companies even offer paid days off to participate in work for a not-for profit organisation. A win-win for everyone!
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