volunteering in mental health Whenever selfperpetuating cycle described in the field of psychology that occurs when the gratitude felt by the recipients of a pro social behavior leads to the recipients engagement in other pro social behaviors like volunteering, tutoring, and donating time and resources in turn to others, the Feel Good, Do Good Phenomenon is a glorious. While in consonance with David Myers, professor of psychology at Michigan’s Hope College, One of psychology’s most consistent findings is that when we feel happy we are more willing to help others. Another a couple of thousand person large study of regular volunteers showed that 90percentage of them described a volunteers high, characterized by a feeling of warmth, more energy, and a kind of euphoria. Furthermore, in The Art of Happiness. Handbook for Living, co authors His Holiness the Dali Lama and Howard Cutler, discuss the many recent studies on altruism and its positive impact on our physical and emotional health. In another study at the University of Michigan Research Center found that doing regular volunteer work.dramatically increased life expectancy and probably overall vitality as well. They cite a study conducted at Harvard University finding that feelings of compassion are accompanied by an increase in ‘immunoglobulinA’, an antibody that can help fight respiratory infections.

Copyright 2006 Elle Housman is a freelance writer and graphic designer based in Colorado. Her publications can be found in Toward Freedom Mgazine, The Colorado Daily’s monthly Women’s Magazine, Ujama News and on the website of The Black Biomedical Research Movement.

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