Why Volunteering Is Good for Your Health
Volunteering is very gratifying, and we often get more out of the experience than what we give. It’s an activity the whole family can bond over, and as a bonus, volunteering is good for our health, too.
Volunteering Is Good for Your Mental Health
Volunteering has a lot of benefits for our mental health. When doing good, we feel empathy which increases our levels of oxytocin. Here are some examples of how volunteering improves our mental health:
Being more socially connected
Warding off loneliness and depression
Reducing the risk of anxiety and depression
Strengthening self-esteem and self-confidence
General feelings of calm and well-being
Stabilizing your mood
Managing stress better
Volunteering Is Good for Your Physical Health
Volunteering helps us to focus on our good qualities, which makes us feel positive about ourselves. When we feel positive, we tend to make positive changes in our lives, such as eating healthier, exercising more, and smoking less. Here are a few additional physical health benefits you can get from volunteering:
Lower blood pressure
Longer lifespan
Improved sleep quality
Lower risk of dementia
Reduced mortality rate
A study by the Carnegie Mellon University reviewed adults over 50 who volunteered regularly and found that they were less likely to have high blood pressure. Elevated blood pressure causes illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, and premature death.
Another study on college students found that students who volunteered regularly had a 26% lower risk of binge drinking.
Brain-stimulating activities, such as tutoring and reading to young people can help older people maintain their memory and thinking skills, which lowers their risk of dementia.
Volunteer Activities You Can Do
It’s important to choose a volunteer activity that you enjoy, and that is important to you as it will make it easier to keep with your appointments. Also be realistic about the time you and your family has available over the holidays and don’t overcommit to any activity you may not be able to finish.
Get your friends and relatives involved and try one of these volunteer activities this holiday:
Visit people in hospitals or long-term care facilities
Prepare or serve meals to the community at a soup kitchen
Wrap or donate gifts to organizations that send gifts to less fortunate children
Prepare and distribute Christmas care baskets
Join a park cleanup
Volunteer to help with the gardening of public places
Answer calls at a helpline
Help clean up after a party
Join a community theater or museum
Volunteer at a children’s camp
Help build a house
Tutor a child
Donate blood
Volunteer at your local zoo or animal shelter
Go on a volunteer holiday, like Fronteering and WWOOF
If you decide to volunteer this holiday, remember to do it for the right reasons: to help others, not to make yourself feel better or score bragging rights. According to a study published in the Health Psychology journal, people who volunteer regularly live longer, but only if their intentions are truly selfless and compassionate and they don’t expect anything in return.
AUTHOR
Dr. Payal Bhandari M.D. is one of U.S.'s top leading integrative functional medical physicians and the founder of SF Advanced Health. She combines the best in Eastern and Western Medicine to understand the root causes of diseases and provide patients with personalized treatment plans that quickly deliver effective results. Dr. Bhandari specializes in cell function to understand how the whole body works. Dr. Bhandari received her Bachelor of Arts degree in biology in 1997 and Doctor of Medicine degree in 2001 from West Virginia University. She the completed her Family Medicine residency in 2004 from the University of Massachusetts and joined a family medicine practice in 2005 which was eventually nationally recognized as San Francisco’s 1st patient-centered medical home. To learn more, go to www.sfadvancedhealth.com.