Mental health can be improved by helping others

By Liz Lockhart

The Mental Health Foundation has conducted research which shows that more than three quarters of people think that society has become more selfish. Their report highlights how helping others is good for mental health and wellbeing.

To coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week (21^st May-27^th May), the Mental Health Foundation has published its ‘Doing Good?’ report. The report highlights the impact that helping others has on people’s mental health and wellbeing in response to a public attitude survey which showed that people believe that society has become more selfish.

The research highlights the evidence base behind how helping others improves own mental wellbeing and calls for people to carry out more acts of kindness.

The report says that the UK faces challenging and unstable times with volatile economic markets and job uncertainty. It also states that many people say they feel too stressed and busy to worry about helping others or say they will focus on doing good deeds when they have more ‘spare time’, even though the evidence suggests that helping others is beneficial for people’s mental health and wellbeing.

Helping others can:

Reduce stress
Improve emotional wellbeing
Benefit physical health
Bring a sense of belonging and reduce isolation
Help us live longer
Get rid of negative feelings

In order to understand people’s attitudes, the Mental Health Foundation commissioned YouGov to carry out a survey. The participants were asked if they felt that people were doing enough to help others compared to 10 years ago and how often they carried out acts of kindness for others.

They found that:

76% of people feel that people in society are more selfish and materialistic than they were 10 years ago
67% of people feel that people are less likely to go out of their way to be kind to a stranger compared to 10 years ago
80% of people agreed that being kind to others can have a positive effect on people’s health
87% of people said that they felt good when they carry out an act of kindness for someone

The Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, Dr Andrew McCulloch says ‘Although it’s worrying that people feel society has become more selfish, our research also showed that the majority of people agree that being kind to others can have a positive effect on their own health and that they feel good when they carry out an act of kindness for someone. Many people engage in volunteering, mentoring and small acts of kindness, such as letting someone in front of them in a queue, holding the door open for a stranger and giving up their seat on public transport. With this in mind, for Mental Health Awareness Week we are calling for the public to carry out more acts of kindness to improve their own mental wellbeing and that of the UK. They don’t need to be big things, cost a lot of money or be time consuming. To help the nation get started, we have produced a handy pocket guide filled with useful ideas and tips for making helping others part of daily life.’

The Mental Health Foundation makes several recommendations in order to help the nation do more good deeds. They are:

Schools, nurseries and playgroups should encourage acts of kindness, peer support and a culture of volunteering from childhood.

Schools, universities and colleges should encourage children and young people to volunteer in local communities

Employers should promote mentally healthy workplaces through encouraging and supporting altruistic activities amongst the workforce, such as colleague mentoring programmes.

Employers should recognise the role of volunteering as a way to develop skills. Particular attention should be paid to supporting the transition to retirement, creating programmes that support older employees to redefine their identities as contributing members of their communities after they have left work.

Commissioners of services aiming to support vulnerable groups should invest in volunteering and peer support services, for socially isolated groups such as older people, people with mental health problems and people with learning disabilities. Supporting people to contribute may result in reciprocal community support networks being developed.

Government should prioritise investment in third sector organisations designed to promote volunteering and Time Banks. These organisations need to be supported to extend these opportunities to isolated people. Training for voluntary sector staff should be provided to help them engage with potential volunteers who may require additional support.

The pocket guide to helping others and the full report ‘Doing Good?’ can be found here.