‘We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.’ Sir Winston Churchill
Being altruistic benefits the person being helped but has also many benefits for the person who is giving. According to Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation in the UK, evidence shows that helping others is beneficial for your own mental health and well-being.
It can:
May Is Mental Health Awareness Month
• 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
Good deeds don’t need to take a lot of time or even cost money. Small changes can make a big difference. The Foundation organize every year a “Mental Health Awareness Week”. This year it runs from May 21 – May 27, 2012 and its asking its Facebook fans to get involved by carrying out acts of kindness for strangers and posting on their —> Facebook Page
For more information about how helping others can be beneficial for your mental health, read Doing Good? report (free download)
Incidentally, I am currently participating with Karleen Harp and Patty Farmer as a team in a social event on Facebook called “Marvelous May” and organized by Keri Francek Jaehnig at Idea Girl Media. This is also a “giving event”.
The idea is to provide support to grow individuals, small businesses and non-profit organizations by trading knowledge and time for a world of wisdom: Check our Facebook page “The World Of Help”
Our mission is to help the community members connecting the dots between specific problems they have and experts who have the answers. Our Facebook page and Twitter keep people updated with ideas and tips.
Our Vision : We empower people by giving them the platform to trade their ideas and time for feedbacks and word of mouth promotion of blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter , Linkedin and all social networks
Happy Giving !
Related articles
- Mental Health versus Mental Illness… a Stigma Issue? (infinitesadnessorwhat.wordpress.com)
Tagged: altruism, Facebook, giving, Health, Mental Health, Stress management, well-being
Anne,
Giving is receiving. You do a great job of explaining that above, and encouraging people to reach outward to push their envelope. Mental Health Awareness Week – A worthy cause!
I am so happy to know you, and thrilled that you participate in Marvelous May. Your project is wonderful, as are your partners and yourself. I, of course, support your project, and look forward to offering assistance where I can.
To fostering a World Of Help…
~Keri
Anne, I am excited to be on this journey with you! I look forward to realizing our vision and seeing our community become a hub for people who need a little “help from their friends.”
I shared this on the page of one of my charities. Great blog post, Anne!