Volunteering will make you feel happier

Globally, 300 million people have depression making it the world’s largest cause of disability. Around the same number have anxiety disorders.  According to Mind, the UK’s leading mental health charity, approximately 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem such as anxiety or depression each year.

While the causes of these periods of lowered mood are varied, from relationship breakups to redundancy or physical illness, the outcome is generally the same. It can cause long-lasting and severe feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and a loss of interest in activities as well as sleep problems, appetite changes and physical pain.

Studies have found that helping others, in the form of volunteering has tangible benefits, both mental and physical, from lowering your blood pressure to reducing feelings of depression. Volunteers’ Week runs from the 1^st to the 7^th of June and highlights the benefits of volunteering and recognises the contributions of volunteers in our community.  Giving to others is now one of the five recommended ‘Steps to Mental Wellbeing‘ promoted by the UK’s National Health Service. “Acts such as volunteering at your local community centre can improve your mental wellbeing,” claims the NHS website.

Volunteering can benefit you in a range of ways; one of the most important of these is that it reduces social isolation and connects you to others in your community. Often when volunteering you spend your time in a team with other people working towards a common goal.  This means that you not only get to meet new people who have interests in common but you also get to enjoy the satisfaction of working towards a worthy cause. Volunteering can also strengthen your ties to the community, broadening your support network.

While some people are naturally outgoing and meet others easily, more of us feel shy and awkward when meeting new people.  Volunteering gives you the opportunity to meet new people without expectation, this gives you the opportunity to develop and practise your social skills. Once you have some momentum going, this can make it easier to go on to make more new friends and strike up conversations at the pub.

Volunteering can also help to counteract the effects of stress and anxiety.  Working with pets and other animals has also been shown to improve mood and reduce stress and anxiety. Further to this, the act of giving to others can help lift our mood and we can gain greater perspective about our troubles by working with those less fortunate.

Depression and anxiety can make people feel alone and isolated and as though they don’t have the ability to connect with others in a meaningful way.  When you are in this state it can be difficult to reach out to volunteer, and perhaps it might be more important for you to connect with a therapist who can help you.  Contact me today for a chat so that we can discuss how to help you experience positive changes in your life today.