Donating And Mental Health: How Giving Back Can Improve Your Mind

When people make charitable donations or sign up for volunteer work, they usually do so because they want to help others. Those who serve meals at the soup kitchen wish to feed the homeless, while those who work for Habitat for Humanity consider how their efforts will help provide a family with a new home.

Similarly, most people who donate money look for organizations that support research in or provide outreach services to political, social, or medical causes that they believe in.

However, have you ever considered how acts of kindness affect the giver? If you experience heightened euphoria or enlightenment after making charity donations, you’re not alone.

Reports indicate that giving of yourself to support a worthwhile cause has several benefits for your overall mental health. Philanthropy—or altruistic giving—stimulates regions in the brain that we use for building interpersonal relationships, trust, and happiness. All of these factors contribute to the delight we feel when making donations.

Seven Mental Health Benefits of Helping Those in Need

1. Volunteering Induces “The Helper’s High”

The helper’s high refers to the feel-good effects of giving. Experts define this “high” as a sudden burst of exhilaration followed by a serene state of tranquility. While the instantaneous excitement is fleeting, the serenity that follows can last several days or weeks, depending on the significance of your service or donation.

Contrary to popular belief, the helper’s high goes beyond short-lived emotions. In fact, research indicates that the happiness a person feels will directly affect how often they make monetary donations or participate in volunteer work.

Now for a bit of science. The act of giving stimulates the mesolimbic system in the brain. This pathway plays a vital role in motivation cognition; it reinforces external stimuli involving incentive salience and reinforced learning.

More simply put: The more you give, the better you feel. Your brain will eventually link the act of giving to the helper’s high, thus making you want to do it more often.

Furthermore, the helper’s high only arises if your act aligns with your pre-existing moral convictions. For example, if you grew up with military personnel, you might feel more fulfilled donating to veterans than helping any other sector.

2. Humanitarianism Creates a Larger Purpose

Humans have struggled to find meaning in life since the beginning of time. Several philosophies revolve around the subject, but one of the most significant ideas comes from the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. He believed that one could achieve fulfillment by loving rather than striving to feel loved.

Research suggests that performing acts of charity and altruism can help you find purpose. If you focus on assisting others to lead happy, comfortable lives, you will soon achieve a deeper sense of enlightenment and fulfillment.

You do not have to dedicate your life to serving others, of course. Small activities done consistently, like volunteering at the soup kitchen or donating to your preferred charity organizations, will already go a long way.

However, you also shouldn’t force yourself to donate for the sole purpose of “giving.” Acts of altruism can only help you achieve deeper fulfillment if they rest on a foundation of kindness and sincerity. Trivial donations yield negligible results.

3. Altruism Reduces Stress

You can find many ways to cope with stress, ranging from healthy routines like exercising to unhealthy coping mechanisms like binge drinking. We discourage drowning your sorrows with self-serving bad habits. Instead, it’s healthier to alleviate stress through positive, purposeful activities, like charitable acts.

Research indicates that prosocial behavior involving charity work and volunteerism helps givers mitigate the impact of stress. For example, stressful days often consist of a series of unfortunate events. You can attempt to break that cycle by performing good deeds for other people.

As we mentioned above, the act of giving in itself produces a feel-good aftereffect, often lasting several days. The endorphin rush can bring many psychological and emotional benefits. People in a constant state of helper’s high not only feel happier, but they also respond better to daily stressors.

Also, acts of charity can boost the quality of your interpersonal relationships. Several activities will give you the chance to interact with people from all walks of life. Volunteering at the soup kitchen allows you to interact with homeless persons and better understand their lives (and their common humanity). Similarly, regular donations will help you understand the causes behind different charity organizations.

You don’t need to make a huge donation every day to mitigate stress, of course. We recommend that you strive for small, consistent acts of kindness such as:

• Holding the door for others
• Greeting the building maintenance team
• Treating the new employee to a cup of coffee
• Giving alms to the homeless people in your neighborhood

4. Giving Builds Gratitude

Cultivating gratitude contributes to a happy, fulfilling life. Appreciative individuals experience more positive emotions, deal better with challenges, and maximize their enjoyable experiences. All of these factors are paramount to personal development. You will never feel fulfilled until you start appreciating what you have, no matter how much wealth you amass.

Performing acts of charity and kindness can serve among the best ways to become a more thankful person. Giving teaches you to appreciate your blessings. In fact, by immersing yourself in a social world that includes less fortunate people, you can become a more grounded, down-to-earth individual.

Seeing other people benefit from your donations, services, and sacrifices evokes a profound sense of fulfillment. Not only do you start appreciating your blessings, but you also learn to share. Through consistent acts of charity, you begin to realize that building up an ungodly amount of wealth does not compare to using your resources to better other people’s lives.

An added plus is that gratitude is contagious. Even small, random acts of charity that you perform can create ripple effects of generosity in your community. Kindness will take on several forms as it cascades across and through the lives of different individuals.

5. Philanthropy Increases Projected Life Expectancy

It might seem like a stretch, but regular donations and volunteer activities can indirectly increase your life expectancy. A longitudinal study by the American Journal of Public Health shows that the act of helping others diminishes the correlation between stress and mortality.

Remember: Charitable individuals lead happier, stress-free lives.

Meanwhile, science shows that those who live apathetic lives and neglect the needs of others put themselves at a higher risk of premature death. The University of Michigan published a study on the effects of social involvement among 423 couples. The five-year study showed that subjects who refused to assist their spouses, neighbors, and close relatives actually doubled their mortality risk.

However, you will only benefit from sincere acts of kindness. Keep in mind that your mind and body reap health benefits from the feel-good aftereffects of charity work—not the service itself.

You cannot expect to feel any of the mental and emotional benefits of giving if you approach volunteer work grudgingly or with resentment. On the contrary, stress might do more harm than good. Not everyone has the mental fortitude to withstand long hours of volunteer work or willingly make sizable charity donations.

6. Benevolence Boosts Self-Esteem

One of the most significant factors that affect self-esteem is excessively focusing on yourself. Instead, try shifting your focus toward a more positive outlet. For example, if you tend to feel down about yourself during idle moments, strive to keep busy through healthy, positive routines.

In this case, we would recommend focusing your efforts on helping others. Devoting your free time to charity and volunteerism eliminates the ego-driven fog that can poison your mental health. Allow your passion for assisting others to drown out your unhealthy desire of attaining perfection.

In addition, performing daily acts of kindness helps build a sense of purpose. In fact, those who feel lost or astray can make it their mission to help others who are in need.

Direct your services and generosity towards a cause that resonates with you. If you wish to feed the homeless, you can host food drives. Meanwhile, those who want to support impoverished children’s studies can coordinate donations to their preferred charity organizations.

Remember: Even a one-time donation could have a significant impact on other people’s lives.

7. Empathy Improves Mood

The feel-good aftereffects of helping others are more than just fleeting emotions. These feelings stem from the increased production of serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin—hormones that work together to boost your mood. As we know, the burst of happiness may be short-lived. However, the inner peace that follows the helper’s high can last for several weeks.

Apart from increasing the production of happy hormones, participating in charity and volunteer work exposes you to like-minded, positive-thinking individuals who are working together towards a common goal. If everyone around you is smiling, you will soon find yourself smiling as well.

Another consideration is that taking part in social activities when you feel down is more beneficial than letting your emotions control you. However, forcing yourself to perform acts of charity will not necessarily produce positive feelings. On the contrary, doing so might dampen your mood. You will only feel good about charity work if your intentions are pure and sincere—not trivial and self-serving.

Make a Donation to the National Veterans Foundation

If you wish to help our country’s admirable veterans, reach out to the National Veteran’s Foundation. Our charity organization provides outreach services to veterans and their families. The donations we collect go toward essential resources, such as food, transportation, and clothing. We also assist returning veterans with their education and employment needs.

To streamline the process, we will pick up donations straight from your doorstep. Simply go to our form online, input your home or business address, then select your preferred pickup time. Please call us at (855) 628-8387 or book your appointment on easydonationpickup.com for more information.