“Every one of us needs to show how much we care for each other and, in the process, care for ourselves.”
Princess Diana
Caring for others has the reciprocal effect of caring for ourselves. When we care for others, the brain releases the chemicals that improve our mental and physical well-being. Everyone reading this can benefit mentally and physically if they proactively serve others in their community. Suppose you are currently dealing with PTSD, anxiety, ADHD, or depression. Or if you need a method to improve your well-being in the face of a busy life full of day-to-day stressors. Adding a dose of service is an evidence-based method to enhance your quality of life. The neurological changes occurring when you volunteer positively impact your mental health and allow the body to heal physical and mental problems more effectively.
In my new book, Self-Health Andragogy: Self-Directed Learning Approach to Mental and Physical Self-Care, I share how service or volunteering creates neurological changes in the brain that improve well-being and fuel your sense of purpose. I explain how volunteering should be a recurring event to maintain health and wellness, like eating, drinking, exercising, and sleeping 7-9 hours a night.
Multiple studies prove that volunteering improves your health and wellness. One study found consistently improved well-being amongst those who volunteered to serve others in their community. Another study demonstrating the benefits of volunteering observed the release of dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin in the brain of those engaged in the act of serving others. These are the neurotransmitters released when we feel a decrease in mental health symptoms and an improved sense of well-being. Some researchers refer to this experience as the “helper’s high” and demonstrate how community service increases longevity and improves mental health outcomes.
The release of these feel-good neurotransmitters when serving others is an automatic neurological response wired in our brains since the first humans roamed this earth, learning the importance of belonging to a tribe. A 2008 study published in the Journal of Anatomy discussing the evolutionary changes of the brain explains that it changes how it makes sense of the world based on what is required to keep one safe. In the past, the brain learned that serving others in its tribe or community leads to community acceptance and a safe, secure location protected from outside threats. Service to the tribe = connection, and belonging = safety.
These previously learned changes come with the neurological activity influencing thoughts and behaviors to motivate and reward us for volunteering or serving others by releasing dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. These evolutionary changes in the brains of the earth’s first inhabitants still exist in our brains today as a hard-wired natural response to serving others.
So what can you do with this information? Apply it to improve your sense of well-being. Seek to feel the helper’s high daily! There are many ways of serving others. You can go to JustServe.org and find local service opportunities to volunteer. Or just help out others around you who you observe are in need. Open the door for someone, let them go first in line, or help someone struggling. You must proactively serve others and plan for it when you wake up. Go on the hunt for acts of kindness and view a daily act of service as a necessity. When you serve or volunteer, I challenge you to mindfully reflect on how you feel inside and develop gratitude for the service’s holistic benefits.
Check out this video on my YouTube channel, where I explain the neurobiology of volunteering in detail. To broaden your knowledge and for further study, check out the resources listed below.
References
Binder, M., & Freytag, A. (2013). Volunteering, subjective well-being and public policy. Journal of Economic Psychology, 34, 97–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2012.11.008
Dossey, L. (2018). The Helper’s High. EXPLORE, 14(6), 393–399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2018.10.003
Inagaki, T. K., Bryne Haltom, K. E., Suzuki, S., Jevtic, I., Hornstein, E., Bower, J. E., & Eisenberger, N. I. (2016). The Neurobiology of Giving Versus Receiving Support. Psychosomatic Medicine, 78(4), 443–453. https://doi.org/10.1097/psy.0000000000000302
Sherwood, C. C., Subiaul, F., & Zawidzki, T. W. (2008). A natural history of the human mind: tracing evolutionary changes in brain and cognition. Journal of Anatomy, 212(4), 426–454. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7580.2008.00868.x