I go to volunteer every Sunday and every time I go volunteer, I find myself feeling really comfortable and I feel like I achieved something.
Also, I found the idea of volunteering is somehow close to the idea of minimalism so I thought it is going to be interesting to write a post about it.
The reasons why volunteering can help your mental health improvement
I have done some research on the Internet as well in addition to my opinion, and the below three points are the reasons why I think volunteering may help your mental health improvement.
- Because you focus on one thing
- Because you communicate with other people
- Because you help other people
There is some researched information included but sometimes the statement here is my personal opinion so I would like to leave it to you what you think about the volunteer work.
Because you focus on one thing
The first reason why I think volunteering may help your mental health improvement is that when you are doing the volunteer work, you focus on one thing; such as picking up the garbage, cooking for people in need, and so on.
This is a very personal opinion but the occasion that you may feel depressed or mentally exhausted is when your mind is towards everywhere.
I have been talking on this blog website that focusing on something is very important, and I think this has been working for me for my emotion that I feel I achieved something, so I think focusing on something especially volunteer work can help other people is very good for your mental improvement.
Because you communicate with other people
The second reason why I think volunteer work helps you to improve your mental health is that you communicate with other people.
I am a very socialised person and most of the time, I get energised by talking with people, especially the people I know well.
This applies to volunteer work as well because by talking to other people, you may solve your own problem because someone will help you to solve it, or you may feel secure and comfortable by talking to other people.
What I want to say in this paragraph is that when I am involved in the volunteer work and talk to the people I am helping, I personally feel like I am making those people secure and comfortable and so am I.
Since I have lived in 5 countries and have been to more than 8 countries, I think this is also a good way to find local friends quickly.
Because you help other people
According to the blog post Why Volunteering Can Benefit your Mental Health from Cleveland Clinic, “It has been shown to decrease stress levels, depression, anxiety and boost your overall health and satisfaction with life.” Dr Albers said when you help other people, it activates the reward centre in your brain and releases serotonin, dopamine and endorphins.
The 3rd reason that volunteer work may help you to improve your mental health is as mentioned above quotation.
Since human-being has survived by forming a group of people called "society", or "family", our DNA may have the instinct to feel comfortable when helping other people.
When you are depressed from something, you may even don't want to meet people or don't want to go outside, but I personally recommend you to go to volunteer work especially when you are mentally exhausted because the scientific data says that it will help you to improve your mental health.
To sum up the post, the 3 reasons why volunteering may help your mental health improvement are...
- Because you focus on one thing
- Because you communicate with other people
- Because you help other people
Thanks for reading!
I hope you found something useful in this post!