If you think of the most selfless person you know, it’s no coincidence that they are typically happier and friendlier than their counterpart, and believe it or not, they are also experiencing a plethora of health benefits.
How it helps
Now I’m not saying you have to volunteer at the food bank every weekend or play checkers with the elderly folks in a group home (though those are great ideas!), but it’s the little random acts of kindness that can add up and have a multitude of positive effects on your mental and physical health.
High levels of stress and anxiety can activate the fight or flight response in your body, which has adverse effects on your cardiovascular and immune systems, ultimately weakening your physical health. Researchers have found that altruistic emotions, which come out of those random acts of kindness, can cancel out feelings of fear or anxiety and turn off the fight or flight response.
“Helper’s High”
There is a distinct feeling we get when we lend a helping hand or do something nice for someone. The same feeling you get volunteering at the animal shelter, or when you finally give your friend the birthday present you’ve been planning for months. It’s a distinct sensation where you may feel energetic, warm, happy, and more than anything, you feel genuinely good about yourself.
This feeling has been coined as the “helper’s high”, and it is this rush of positive feelings that help to ease feelings of stress and anxiety. People who have this feeling on a semi-often basis have shown to have lower levels of stress hormones in their body, which helps cool down the negative side effects of having an activated fight or flight response.
What can I do?
Like I said, to have a sense of altruism, you do not need to be part of extravagant events that reach hundreds or thousands of people. The simplest way to reap the benefits is through small random acts of kindness. When you’re walking into class, hold the door open for a couple of your classmates. If your roommate’s car won’t start, give them a ride to class, work, or wherever they need to go. Lend pencil and paper to a classmate. At the end of the day, there are many opportunities for us to do something that can help someone and put a smile on their face. If you could do something even bigger, then great!
One final thought to leave you with, much like most areas of life, you do not want to overdo it. If you become too consumed with trying to help as many people as you can, you will get stressed and those positive effects will then reverse, and that is just one messy cycle. Find the balance that works for you and don’t be afraid to put a smile on someone’s face. We are all part of the humankind, be both!
Here are 10 Random Acts of Campus Kindness
- Pick up trash when you see it
- Allow someone who looks late for class to cut in front of you in the Starbucks line
- Hold the door (or elevator) open for the person behind you
- Smile or say hello when you pass people around campus
- Send a note of gratitude to a professor
- Send a note of gratitude to a friend
- Be a designated driver
- Ask someone how they are doing (and really listen to their response with compassion and non-judgment)
- Call your parents
- Help a friend study for a big exam
Tommy Houston, Health Coach