Is helping others a useful form of therapy?
Paul White's nationally distributed syndicated column, “Is helping others a useful form of therapy?” is published in 22 publications across seven states. This includes the following newspapers and digital publications: Midland Daily News (MI), SFGate (CA), Seattle PI (WA), Connecticut Post (CT), Laredo Morning Times (TX), Huron Daily Tribune (MI), The Telegraph (IL), and more. In this week's blog, Paul explores the topic of helping others as therapy and offers tips to help you build a "helping others action plan" to create consistent joy and happiness in your life!
Mental health is such a huge issue. And its impact on physical health is also huge.
That’s what led me to the question, “Is helping others good for your health?” Every person on this earth should know the answer to that question. It’s that important to each of our lives.
How many of us ever ponder the thought process regarding the impact helping others has on our own personal health? Next to no one!
That’s why it’s worthwhile taking a dive into the deep end of this one today. Some strategic research can serve us well on the topic, and it turns out that there are loads of data about this subject of helping others being good for us in a wide variety of ways.
Many of my mentors through the years have emphasized the importance of knowing the difference between fact and opinion. It really helps when researching a subject to be able to turn to credible sources for information that is based on facts supported by research and conclusive data. I avoid everything I see on social media because I just don’t have the time to ponder its credibility, and it’s nearly all opinion. It may be spoken like fact, but in truth, it’s just someone’s opinion.
Back to the question of helping others being good for our health. I discovered my own answer early in life and pursued helping others in a wide variety of ways and have enjoyed the benefits of doing so. But if I were to tell you how wonderful it is and suggest that everyone should weave it deeply into their life, all it would be is my opinion. If I expect you to take action today to develop a plan that makes “helping others” a priority in your life…and I do…it’s best that I give you an indisputable source of factual data with research to back it up.
Turns out, when you have a credible source you can turn to, it makes strategic research pretty simple. Thank you, Cleveland Clinic—my AI research agreed with and confirmed everything you present on the “helping others” subject on your website.
A huge help was a December 7, 2022, Cleveland Clinic article which provides some wonderful information that I’d like to share.
Physical and mental health benefits associated with helping others, giving, and sharing can include:
Lower blood pressure
A longer lifespan
Less stress
A “Helpers High”
That alone should have us all working on a “helping others plan of action,” which, by the way, can be implemented for FREE! And it doesn’t take a rocket science brain to get started (I’m proof). You can start close to home by walking a neighbor’s dog, mowing someone’s lawn in the summer or shoveling their drive in the winter, or making some cookies to give to someone unexpectantly. You might visit a nursing home or assisted living facility (wow, will you ever feel appreciated) or deliver meals on wheels (it’s both humbling and rewarding…something everyone should do at least once in their life).
The truth is, a person doesn’t need alcohol nor drugs to feel good because our brain has an ample supply of “feel-good chemicals” ready for disbursement at all times. Each of us has Serotonin (which regulates your mood), Dopamine (which gives you a sense of pleasure), and Oxytocin (which creates a sense of connection with others), and they’re all waiting for “on-demand” disbursement. Which begs the question: How do I demand disbursement? The answer is: Helping Others!
While I mentioned some simple options above to get started, it may be even easier for you if sit a spell and consider what role volunteering currently plays in your life. You see, it’s impossible for any act of volunteering to fall outside the umbrella of helping others. My personal definition of volunteering is doing anything of your own free will that helps others without expecting anything in return. What’s weird is that I can’t really explain how it seems like when you help someone else, the goodness you created is returned to you tenfold. I’ve witnessed this over and over.
I can’t come up with a good answer when I ask myself, “If the benefits are clearly so great, why in the world aren’t we ALL living a life that includes DAILY doses of helping others intertwined with our home life, our work life, and our community life?” So, I’m asking. I’m asking YOU.
In an effort to manage your own mental and personal health receiving all of the natural benefits that you have the ability to enjoy, will you take action today, right now, and come up with a plan that consistently injects helping others and volunteering into your daily life…with your family…your friends…your neighbors…your co-workers… and other members of your community? C’mon, make the commitment.
Look, I believe in the power of helping others and volunteering so much I wrote a book about it. When you open the cover, you see a page with the giant words: Hey…I Believe In YOU! And I do. In the book, I prove that the best way to help ourselves is by helping others. It’s the most natural thing we can do! GiddyUp!
In addition to being a nationally syndicated columnist, Paul White is an author, motivational and inspirational speaker, entrepreneur, podcaster, and life coach located in Midland, Michigan. His new book, “The Answer Discovery – How to Change the World by Helping Others…and Ourselves,” is available to purchase today. If you’re interested in getting in touch with Paul, please submit an inquiry via our Contact Page.