Volunteering brings good health
It has been around eight months with coronavirus pandemic and we don’t know when we are going to come out of it. We also don’t know when will everything be same as it was before the virus.Amid all these uncertainties, what we can do is just wait and watch. And we are doing that only in current times.
True that, it’s going to take a long time for everything coming on the track again. Covid-liked social and economic issues may take years and decades to overcome across the globe. People are still following stay-at-home and may have to follow safety rules for years.This is making their lives sad.
Volunteering boosts happiness
In such a trying situation, the one thing that can surely make people happy is volunteering, says a study. Many of the communities, including elderly people, have been worst hit due to Covid isolation measure. Also, young people and poor communities became vulnerable after losing their sources of livelihood during coronavirus lockdown.
There are a number of people among them who are turning to volunteering to care for others and do good work for society. The best benefit these volunteers are getting in corona times is satisfaction and happy feelings of helping and serving others. And non-volunteers cannot have the advantages of such feelings, said the research.
When most of the people in the world are facing stress, anxiety and depression, these feelings of doing something for society are mental health boosters for the volunteers, said the study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies. The survey findings were based on responses of 70,000 people across United Kingdom.
Volunteering brings good health for elderly people
There are more than one or two advantages of volunteering by people of different age groups. Volunteering is good for health of elderly people, confirms another research. If done at least two hours a week, volunteering reduces the risk of death in elderly adults. The respondents of the study reported more sense of meaning, positive affect and doing more exercise.
The adults of over 50 years in age, who did at least 100 hours of volunteering a year, got better mental health, says a research published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.Fewer cases of depressive feelings or loneliness were reported by these elderly people. The study, which targeted 13,000 sample size, found lower death risks or physically limiting impairments in respondents.
However, the research did not find any benefit of volunteering on many specific physical heath conditions such as stroke, heart disease, arthritis, obesity, cognitive impairment or chronic pain. The physical activities during the research was no advantage on binge drinking, smocking or sleep issues faced by the respondents. It also did not have impact on psychological matters like life satisfaction, financial mastery or depression.
How volunteering helps: Satisfaction
Weather it is Coronavirus times or normal days, volunteers have always been happy by providing their services to the needy people and vulnerable communities. What is there in volunteering that gives you this much delight that it can be a mental health booster? To answer this question we will have to examine a few important points.
Life’s purpose – When you come out to work for the society, it gives you a purpose of life. You become mentally stronger and clear. This enhances your productivity and you find satisfaction.
Social connection – While volunteering, you build a large network and social connection. As your community grows, you develop a higher sense of self-esteem.
Reducing stress– As you volunteer, you are less prone to get stress, anxiety or depression. The quality work and quality time in social work begets you appreciation and confidence.
Better self – You gain many personal, professional and managerial skills throughout your volunteering. You feel yourself growing physically, mentally and emotionally.
Therefore, if you come forward to give a little to the society, you are going to get a lot more in return. However, volunteering is not something you want to do for getting something back. It just comes from heart and goes on to changing people’s lives and world.It’s like sharing good health, happiness and satisfaction with others.
